All About Cataracts

Cataract surgery does not cause a progression of early age-related macular degeneration (AMD) to a more sight-threatening stage of the disease, according to a new study.

Researchers in Australia performed cataract surgery on 27 eyes of 27 patients with early macular degeneration to see if removal of their cataracts would improve the patients’ vision and quality of life without increasing their risk of AMD progression and vision loss from choroidal neovascularization (CNV).

CNV is the growth of fragile new blood vessels in the choroid layer of the eye underlying the retina. In macular degeneration, these blood vessels can leak into the retina, causing “wet” macular degeneration and severe vision loss.

Prior to the phacoemulsification cataract surgery performed in the study, all patients underwent a test called fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) to make sure no eyes had pre-existing CNV.

Data gathered 6 months after surgery revealed a 2.8-line mean improvement in visual acuity (measured with a standard eye chart) and a 2.1-fold average gain in quality of life scores (measured by a patient survey) after cataract removal. One eye (3.7 percent) developed CNV within 6 months of surgery.

The researchers concluded that there was no significant increase in short-term risk of progression from dry AMD to CNV following uncomplicated phacoemulsification cataract surgery, and that there are distinct benefits of cataract surgery in people with early macular degeneration.

Source: Cataract surgery in high-risk age-related macular degeneration: A randomized controlled trial. Clinical & Experimental Ophthalmology. Published online June 22, 2009.