Changes in the structure of intra-ocular nylon

Abstract

When using a nylon thread for the attachment of a pseudophakos to the iris, it may happen that the suture is slung tightly around the implant-lens. In such a case this constitutes a clinical experiment where in one and the same eye one part of the nylon thread is in its normal state (the cut-off ends) and the rest is in a stretched state, both under the same environmental conditions and for the same length of time. The differences in structure of the two parts of the nylon thread are thus fully comparable. Clinical observations show that when the nylon thread is under tension it will be eroded by chemical influences. It does not make any difference whether the nylon is used for corneal, scleral or intra-ocular suturing. The duration of the observations is still too short to predict the behaviour of nylon thread which is not stretched.