title: Straylight measurements as an indication for cataract surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess adding straylight measurements to the indication for cataract surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Onze Lieve Vrouwe Hospital, Amsterdam, and Zonnestraal Eye Clinic, Hilversum, The Netherlands.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective interventional cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Before and after cataract extraction, corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) and straylight were recorded in all patients. Subjective complaints were documented by the 39-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-39) and a straylight questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The population comprised 217 patients with a mean age of 72 years ± 9.12 (SD) (range 29 to 90 years). Preoperatively, the mean straylight was 1.55 ± 0.29 log(s) and the mean CDVA, 0.28 ± 0.21 logMAR. Visual acuity and straylight showed little correlation (R(2) = 0.08). The mean postoperative improvement in CDVA was 0.26 ± 0.20 logMAR (range -0.12 to 1.12 logMAR) and in straylight, 0.31 ± 0.32 log(s) (range -0.50 to 1.27 log[s]). The preoperative breakeven point (50% chance of postoperative improvement) was 0.06 logMAR for CDVA and 1.29 log(s) for straylight. Preoperative and postoperative questionnaires showed straylight had almost the same influence as visual acuity on quality of vision.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Straylight and visual acuity measure different aspects of quality of vision and influenced subjective visual quality almost equally. When straylight was added to preoperative considerations of cataract extraction, postoperative results were more predictable.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences has a proprietary interest in the C-Quant Straylight meter. No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. i.j.vandermeulen@amc.uva.nl
authors.forename: Ivanka J E
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: van der Meulen
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gjertsen
authors.forename: Bastiaan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kruijt
authors.forename: Jan Peter
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Witmer
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rulo
authors.forename: Reinier O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Schlingemann
authors.forename: Thomas J T P
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: van den Berg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002386:Cataract / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002387:Cataract Extraction; D003941:Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D017558:Elective Surgical Procedures; D005260:Female; D019466:Glare; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*