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


CONCLUSIONS
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 .
Emory University School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA, USA. slamber@emory.edu
S R
SR
Lambert
M
M
Lynn
C
C
Drews-Botsch
L
L
DuBois
D A
DA
Plager
N B
NB
Medow
M E
ME
Wilson
E G
EG
Buckley
D002386:Cataract / Q000151:congenital* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002387:Cataract Extraction / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019654:Lens Implantation, Intraocular; D007910:Lenses, Intraocular; D012086:Reoperation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*