Intraocular Lens and Corneal Status Following Aircraft Ejection by a USAF Aviator

Pamela Smith, Douglas Ivan, Frank LoRusso, Deborah MacKersie, and Thomas Tredici
Aviat Space Environ Med 2002; 73:1230-4

Abstract

Prior to 1967, military aviators who developed visually significant cataracts that affected visual performance were grounded. Those that ultimately required surgical removal were permanently grounded because of significant optical effects post-operatively. With the advent of contact lenses, a limited number of aircrew were returned to the cockpit because of improved optical factors provided by contacts post-cataract surgery. However, development of the intraocular lens (IOL) in the 1970s marked a major technological breakthrough that provided the potential to restore post-cataract surgical vision to near normal conditions. This case report is the first known occurrence of ejection from a high performance military aircraft by an aviator with an IOL. The success and stability of the IOL through this event provided additional clinical and operational information relative to the overall USAF experience with certain types of IOL approved for use in USAF aircrew. The aviator also sustained unexpected corneal foreign bodies due to the canopy fragmentation system.

Keywords: intraocular lens, IOL, pseudophakia, detonation cord, aircraft ejection, corneal foreign bodies.

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Table of Contents for Volume 73, Number 12 of the ASEM journal.