title: Preventing recurrent opacification of the visual pathway after pediatric cataract surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the rate of secondary opacification of the visual pathway following pediatric cataract surgery in children between the ages of 10 months and 7 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  The medical records of children less than 7 years old who underwent lens aspiration, posterior chamber intraocular lens (IOL) implantation, primary pars plana posterior capsulectomy, and anterior vitrectomy were reviewed retrospectively. Twenty-six eyes in 19 children were included in the study. All procedures were performed by an anterior segment surgeon and a vitreoretinal surgeon. Main outcome measures were the prevalence of re-opacification of the visual pathway and of early postoperative complications.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The visual pathway remained clear in 25 of 26 eyes (96%) after pediatric cataract surgery combined with primary pars plana posterior capsulectomy and anterior vitrectomy. The mean age at surgery was 46 +/- 23 months (+/-SD). Secondary opacification of the visual pathway occurred in one eye (4%), requiring another surgical procedure. At last follow-up (mean, 26 months; range, 6 to 79 months), the visual pathway was clear in all 26 eyes (100%). No cases of clinically significant IOL displacement or of retinal detachment were noted.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For children undergoing pediatric cataract surgery between the ages of 10 months and 7 years, IOL implantation combined with primary pars plana posterior capsulectomy and anterior vitrectomy is effective in preventing re-opacification of the visual pathway.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Mayo Clinic Foundation, and Mayo Medical School, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA. hardwig.paul@mayo.edu
authors.forename: Paul W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Hardwig
authors.forename: Jay C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Erie
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Buettner
mesh_terms: D002386:Cataract / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002387:Cataract Extraction; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007903:Lens Capsule, Crystalline / Q000601:surgery*; D019654:Lens Implantation, Intraocular; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D014795:Visual Pathways; D014821:Vitrectomy