SCIENTIFIC REPORT

Optotype acuity and re-operation rate after unilateral cataract surgery during the first 6 months of life with or without IOL implantation

S R Lambert¹, M Lynn², C Drews-Botsch², L DuBois¹, D A Plager³, N B Medow⁴, M E Wilson⁵ and E G Buckley⁶

¹ Emory Eye Center, Atlanta, Ga, USA
² Emory University School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA, USA
³ Indiana University Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN, USA
⁴ Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital, New York City, NY, USA
⁵ Storm Eye Institute, Charleston, SC, USA
⁶ Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Scott R Lambert
MD, Emory Eye Center, 1365-B Clifton Road, NE, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; slamber{at}emory.edu

Aims: To compare optotype acuities and re-operation rates in children corrected with a contact lens (CL) compared with an intraocular lens (IOL) following unilateral cataract extraction during infancy in a non-randomised, retrospective case series.

Methods: 25 infants with a unilateral congenital cataract underwent cataract surgery with (IOL group, n = 12) or without (CL group, n = 13) IOL implantation when <7 months of age. Optotype acuities were assessed in 19 of these children at a mean age of 4.3 years (range 3.3–5.5 years). The number of re-operations were assessed in 21 children.

Results: The visual acuity results were similar in the two treatment groups (p = 0.99); however, two of the four (50%) children in the IOL group compared with two of the seven (28%) children in the CL group undergoing surgery during the first 6 weeks of life had 20/40 or better visual acuity. The children in the IOL group had more re-operations than the children in the CL group (mean 1.1 v 0.36). Most of the re-operations in the IOL group were membranectomies performed during the first year of life (median 8.0 months) whereas all of the re-operations in the CL group were the implantation of a secondary IOL later in childhood (mean 2.2 years).

Conclusion: Optotype acuities were similar for the children corrected with a CL compared with IOL, while the children in the IOL group underwent more re-operations .

Abbreviations: CL, contact lens; IOL, intraocular lens; PFV, persistent fetal vasculature

Keywords: cataract; amblyopia; intraocular lens; contact lens; infants

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