Congenital cataract surgery in children with cataract as an isolated defect and in children with a systemic syndrome: a comparative study.
OBJECTIVE
To compare visual acuity outcome in two groups of children who underwent congenital cataract surgery. The first group is one in which an isolated cataract occurred; the second group is one in which cataract occurred in conjunction with a systemic disease.


METHODS
A review of 46 charts: 36 children (50 eyes) with congenital cataract as an isolated defect, and 10 children (16 eyes) with cataract as part of a systemic disease.


RESULTS
One third of the eyes with isolated cataract had postoperative visual acuity better than 6/12, although none of the patients in the syndrome group had visual acuity better than 6/12. This difference was statistically significant (p = 0.01). Of the various ocular pathologies associated with congenital cataract, only nystagmus was found to be more prevalent in the syndrome group (40%) as compared with the isolated cataract group (11%) (p = 0.05). Surgery was performed during the first 2 years of life in 54% of the eyes in the isolated cataract group, and in 87% of the eyes in the syndrome group (p = 0.01). There was no difference in the prevalence of the postoperative complications between the two groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Children who underwent congenital cataract surgery developed poorer visual acuity if the cataract was a part of a systemic disease as compared with children without a systemic syndrome.
Goldschleger Eye Institute, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel.
A
A
Spierer
H
H
Desatnik
M
M
Rosner
M
M
Blumenthal
D000015:Abnormalities, Multiple; D002386:Cataract / Q000151:congenital*; D002387:Cataract Extraction; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D019654:Lens Implantation, Intraocular; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013577:Syndrome; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014792:Visual Acuity