Visual axis opacification most common complication after primary IOL implementation in pediatric cataract Patients: JAMA

The research is published in JAMA Ophthalmology.

To treat nontraumatic pediatric cataracts, a Lensectomy with a primary intraocular lens (IOL) is often used. There needs to be more data evaluating the association of age and IOL location with the incidence of complications, as the present data available is scarce.

The main question is, “Is age at the surgery or location of implant fixation associated with complications within five years of primary intraocular lens implantation for pediatric cataracts?”

In the present study, researchers described the incidence of complications and additional eye surgeries through 5 years following pediatric lensectomy with primary IOL implantation and its association with age at surgery. IOL location in their prospective cohort study using Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group cataract registry data from 61 institution- and community-based practices over three years (June 2012 to July 2015).

The main points of this research include:

• The study had 491 children (609 eyes).
• These children were younger than 13 years.
• The common complications were Visual axis opacification (VAO), with a cumulative incidence of 32 %.
• There were no differences in the incidence of surgery for VAO by age at the surgery or by capsular bag vs sulcus IOL fixation.
• There was a lower Cumulative incidence of anterior vitrectomy at the time of IOL placement.
• There was no association between Cumulative incidence of glaucoma-related adverse events by five years and age at surgery, and retinal detachment and endophthalmitis were rare.

Based on the findings of this study, age at implantation and implant location were not associated with complications. There is a need to monitor for glaucoma and VAO.

Further reading:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaophthalmology/article-abstract/2806303