Skip to main content

  • PEDIG Report: Lensectomy for Traumatic Cataract

    By Jean Shaw
    Selected and Reviewed By: Neil M. Bressler, MD, and Deputy Editors
    Add to My Bookmarks

    Journal Highlights

    JAMA Ophthalmology, June 2021

    Download PDF

    The Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group (PEDIG) set out to assess visual acuity (VA) outcomes and adverse events in children who undergo surgery for traumatic cataracts. Bothun et al. found that, within 15 months after len­sectomy in these children, substantial ocular morbidity was common.

    This cohort study was drawn from a larger study of 994 children younger than 13 years who underwent lensecto­my from June 2012 to July 2015. Trau­matic cataract was reported in 84 of the 994 children, and an office visit was documented for 72 of the 84 with­in 15 months following surgery.

    Main outcomes were best-corrected VA (BCVA) from nine to 15 months after lensectomy for traumatic cataract and the cumulative proportion with strabismus, glaucoma, and other ocular complications by 15 months.

    For the 72 children (74 eyes), the median age at time of surgery was 7.3 years (range, 0.1-12.6 years), and an intraoperative complication was iden­tified in 10 of the eyes (14%). An IOL was placed in 57 of the 74 eyes (77%). Other results included the following:

    • Visual loss was common. In children who were 3 years or older at follow-up, median BCVA was 20/63 for pseu­dophakic eyes (n = 26; range, 20/20 to 20/200) and 20/250 for eyes with aphakia (n = 6; range, 20/20 to worse than 20/800).
    • Visual axis opacification also was common, with a cumulative proportion of 42% among children with IOLs. Most of these patients subsequently underwent laser capsulotomy.
    • Data on ocular alignment were available for 64 participants; strabismus was reported in 23 of the 64.
    • Glaucoma was infrequent and diagnosed in four of the 74 eyes (all four were pseudophakic). No cases of glaucoma suspect were reported.

    Based on these findings, the PEDIG researchers recommended ongoing monitoring of these children, partic­ularly with regard to the development of strabismus and visual axis opacifica­tion.

    The original article can be found here.