Senile cataract progression studies using the Lens Opacities Classification System II.
OBJECTIVE
To determine cataract progression rates at 6-mo intervals as evaluated using the Lens Opacities Classification System II (LOCS II).


METHODS
Idiopathic age-related cataracts in both eyes of 50 cataract patients and 17 normal control subjects were graded. The lenses were reexamined at 6 and 12 mo (+/- 2 mo) from baseline to determine rates of change. Progression or regression in patients or control subjects was considered to have occurred at the 6-mo examination if a one or more step change in the LOCS II grading was noted in at least one eye at 6 mo and maintained at the 12-mo visit.


RESULTS
Six months from baseline, 38% of patients' conditions worsened in the nuclear area, 34% of patients' conditions worsened in the cortical region, and 8% of patients' conditions worsened in the posterior subcapsular region. Regression rates were 4% in each region. The percentages of patients progressing in the nuclear and cortical regions were significantly greater than the corresponding regression rates (P < .001). Greater progression was noted in the nuclear (P = .06) and posterior subcapsular (P < .01) regions in patients with early opacities (LOCS + 1/+2) as compared to patients with no opacities initially in the same lenticular areas.


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that the LOCS II is capable of detecting changes in lens opacities in a relatively short period of time among persons with early to moderate opacities.
Ophthalmic Genetics and Clinical Services Branch, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
B V
BV
Magno
M B
MB
Datiles
S M
SM
Lasa
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D002386:Cataract / Q000145:classification* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged