J Korean Ophthalmol Soc.  1995 Dec;36(12):2114-2120.

Postoperative Visual Outcome of Congenital Cataract with Possibility of Conservation of Vision

• Kim HS
• Lee YC
• Kim MS

Abstract

We studied the postoperative visual outcome of 27 congenital cataract patients(45 eyes) whose preoperative vision was 0.1 or better. Twenty-seven eyes(60%) had nuclear cataract and 11 eyes(24.4%) capsular; 39 eyes(86.7%) bilateral and 6 eyes(13.3%) unilateral. Interms of surgical techniques employed, aspiration was performed in 32 eyes(71.1%), phacoemulsification in 13 eyes(28.9%). Intraocular lenses(IOLs) were implanted in 41 eyes(91.1%), of which the power of IOLs was 15 diopers or less in 19 eyes(46.3%). Prooperative best corrected vision ranged from 0.1 to 0.5. Postoperative corrected vision was 0.8 or better in 29 eyes(64.4%), 0.6 to 0.7 in 6 eyes(13.3%) and 0.5 or worse in 10 eyes(22.2%). Among the eyes with 0.8 or better vision, one eye had unilateral cataract and 28 eyes bilateral. Among 16 eyes(35.8%) with 0.7 or worse vision. 5 eyes had unilateral cataract and 11 eyes bilateral. Bilateral cases showed better visual outcome than unilateral. We had been reserving the operation on congenital cataract patients with possible unclear visual outcome due to postoperative complications and am blyopia. However, cataract extraction and IOL implantation improved not only vision but also subjective symptoms, such as glare and knitting brow, in congenital cataract patients with 0.1 or better corrected vision and without any associated ocular or systemic diseases. The results of this study suggest that cataract extraction and IOL implantation may well improve vision and subjective symptoms in selected congenital cataract patients.

Keyword

Cataract type; Congenital cataract; Visual outcome

MeSH Terms

Cataract Extraction
Cataract*
Glare
Humans
Phacoemulsification
Postoperative Complications