title: Visual outcome of cataract surgery; study from the European Registry of Quality Outcomes for Cataract and Refractive Surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the visual outcome after cataract surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cataract surgery clinics in 15 European countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  Database study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were drawn from case series of cataract extractions reported to the European Registry of Quality Outcomes for Cataract and Refractive Surgery database. These data were entered into the database via the Web by surgeons or by transfer from existing national registries or electronic medical record systems. The database contains individual anonymous data on preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative measurements.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data on 368,256 cataract extractions were available for analysis. The best visual outcome was achieved in age groups 40 to 74 years, and men showed a higher percentage of excellent vision (1.0 [20/20] or better) than women. A corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) of 0.5 (20/40) or better and of 1.0 (20/20) or better was achieved in 94.3% and 61.3% of cases, respectively. Ocular comorbidity and postoperative complications were the strongest influences on the visual outcome; however, surgical complications and ocular changes requiring complex surgery also had a negative influence. Deterioration of visual acuity after the surgery (n= 6112 [1.7% of all cases]) was most common in patients with a good preoperative visual acuity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The visual outcomes of cataract surgery were excellent, with 61.3% of patients achieving a corrected distance visual acuity of 1.0 (20/20) or better. Age and sex influenced the visual outcomes, but the greatest influences were short-term postoperative complications, ocular comorbidity, surgical complications, and complex surgery. A weakness of the study could be that some of the data is self-reported to the registry.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden. mats.lundstrom@karlskrona.mail.telia.com
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lundström
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barry
authors.forename: Ype
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Henry
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rosen
authors.forename: Ulf
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Stenevi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002386:Cataract / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007431:Intraoperative Complications; D019654:Lens Implantation, Intraocular; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000592:standards*; D009885:Ophthalmology; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D018918:Phacoemulsification; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D012042:Registries; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*