JUL 28, 2008
Cataract/Anterior Segment
The results of this research were part of the larger Sanrao Study of Cataract Outcomes and Up-Take of Services (SCOUTS). It found the effects of posterior capsular opacification (PCO) on vision and visual function to be modest in patients receiving care in a rural Asian setting.
Follow-up was only one year. However, the authors write that given the difficulty and expense of achieving adequate follow-up, studies such as this one may serve as an important baseline for determining the effectiveness of early intervention against modest PCO in preventing later, more visually significant opacities.
PCO of grade 1 or above was present in 34 of 204 operated eyes, or 16.7 percent. Patients with PCO had significantly worse presenting vision but not visual function compared with those without PCO. Women had a significantly higher prevalence of PCO than did men, 20.9 percent vs. 8.6 percent.
Even though more patients chose capsulotomy compared to refractive services (95 percent compared to 35 percent), visual acuity improvement was higher among patients who chose refraction, (26 percent compared to 9 percent).