Purpose To evaluate the influence of the pupil size on clinical results and objective parameters of optical quality of the Tecnis 1-piece (ZCB00) intraocular lens.

Setting Centre of Ophthalmology, Eberhard-Karls University Tübingen, Germany.

Methods In this study 51 eyes were implanted with a Tecnis 1-piece IOL. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) were assessed postoperatively. Total spherical aberration and corneal spherical aberration for optical zones of 3, 4, 5 and 6 mm were measured. Contrast sensitivity and depth of focus were evaluated with a 3 mm and 5 mm pinhole (PH).

Results The mean follow-up time was 3.0±0.4 months. Mean UCVA and BCVA were 20/25±8 letters and 20/18±4 letters, respectively. BCVA with both a 3 and a 5 mm PH was 20/18±4 letters. The corneal spherical aberration was 0.02±0.01, 0.06±0.03, 0.14±0.09 and 0.27±0.22 for 3, 4, 5 and 6 mm optical zones. Mean total spherical aberration was –0.01±0.02, 0.0±0.03, 0.0±0.06 and 0.0±0.08 μm for 3, 4, 5 and 6 mm optical zones, respectively. Contrast sensitivity was not statistically significant different with a 5 mm or 3 mm PH. In addition, the defocus curves with a 3 mm and a 5 mm PH were not statistically significant different.

Conclusion The aspheric profile of the Tecnis 1-piece IOL reduces total spherical aberration to virtually zero at all pupil sizes from 3–6 mm. Thus, visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, refraction and defocus curve show the same good results at large pupil sizes compared with small pupil sizes.