Anterior segment reconstruction due to cosmetic iris implants placed in the anterior chamber.

A 27-year-old woman had BrightOcular iris implants placed for cosmetic purposes that changed eye color from brown to blue bilaterally. Of note, BrightOcular implants are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the United States and have been associated with severe ocular complications. In keeping with their design, they were placed in the anterior chamber (AC) in both eyes of this patient; surgery was performed outside the United States. As has been described previously and tragically in other cases, she developed chronic inflammation, intolerable glare, angle-closure glaucoma, corneal edema, and cataracts in both eyes. For medically unmanageable elevated intraocular pressure (IOP), she underwent diode laser cyclophotocoagulation (CPC) in both eyes, and eventually, an Ahmed tube shunt (New World Medical, Inc.) was placed in the right eye. Although she was advised and urged to have the iris implants removed, despite her ocular issues, she refused removal until intolerable glare and reduced vision ensued. Ultimately, both iris implants were extracted 5 years after implantation by a U.S. surgeon; the procedures resulted in corneal decompensation and progressive cataract development. Subsequent penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) was performed for the right eye, but it failed because of contact with the glaucoma tube shunt. She sought additional consultation and presented with the following findings: corrected distance visual acuity was 20/400 in the right eye and 20/40 in the left eye, IOP of 18 mm Hg in the right eye and 16 mm Hg in the left eye, pupils were nonreactive and fixed, and extraocular muscles and central visual field were normal. Pachymetry was 868 µm in the right eye and 653 µm in the left eye. Anterior segment examination in the right eye revealed a failed corneal graft with 3+ edema, peripheral anterior synechiae (PAS) for 360 degrees, shallow AC, Ahmed tube shunt at the 11 o'clock position and remnant iris adherent to the graft-host junction for 270 degrees, 3+ posterior subcapsular cataract, and 2+ cortical cataract (Figure 1JOURNAL/jcrs/04.03/02158034-202208000-00024/figure1/v/2022-08-01T210317Z/r/image-tiff). The sclera revealed multiple circular and circumferential atrophic blue spots consistent with high-energy transscleral CPC (Figure 2JOURNAL/jcrs/04.03/02158034-202208000-00024/figure2/v/2022-08-01T210317Z/r/image-tiff). In the left eye, she had remnant fixed dilated iris for 270 degrees, missing iris superiorly for 3 clock hours, an adequate AC, and 2+ cortical cataract (Figure 3JOURNAL/jcrs/04.03/02158034-202208000-00024/figure3/v/2022-08-01T210317Z/r/image-tiff). Posterior segment examination revealed a 0.5 cup-to-disc ratio in both eyes with normal vessels, macula, vitreous, and retinal periphery, bilaterally. Given this constellation of findings, how would you proceed?