Changes in Refraction following Pediatric Cataract Surgery.

Sim, Jae Ok; Park, Mi Ra; Park, Soo Chul

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Ophthalmological Society 2005;46(5):768-774.
Published online May 31, 2005.

Changes in Refraction following Pediatric Cataract Surgery.

¹Department of Ophthalmology, Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea. scpark@catholic.ac.kr
²Department of Ophthalmology, St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.

소아 백내장 수술 후 굴절력 변화

심재옥¹,박미라²,박수철¹

Department of Ophthalmology Kangnam St. Mary`s Hospital,¹ St. Mary`s Hospital,² College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence: Jae-Ok Sim, M.D.¹

Abstract

PURPOSE
To evaluate the factors influencing the refractive changes and to predict the ideal intraocular lens powers in children who had undergone cataract surgery. METHODS: The medical records of the pediatric patients with aphakia or pseudophakia who were followed for more than 5 years postoperatively were reviewed retrospectively. They were grouped according to the age at surgery and were followed-up every six months postoperatively. The myopic changes and the factors associated with these changes among the groups were evaluated and compared. RESULTS: The follow-up time was 5 years. In the age-matched subset of patients, no statistically significant difference in the refractive change were found between the aphakic and pseudophakic eyes as well as between the unilateral and bilateral cataracts. Children operated on at 1 month to 1 year of age had a mean myopic shift of -5.58D (range -1.88 to -12.85) and children operated on at 1 to 3 years of age had a shift of -4.25D (range -1.78 to -8.71). The mean myopic shift decreased as the age at operation increased. Children operated on at 10 to 15 years of age had a shift of -1.46D (range 0 to -5.28). CONCLUSIONS: During the first 5 years after surgery, no statistically significant difference in refractive change was observed between the aphakic eyes and pseudophakic eyes as well as between the unilateral and bilateral cataracts. The increasing difficulty in deciding the ideal IOL-power is expected in young children as the refractive change becomes more unpredictable when surgery is performed on younger patients.

Key Words: Myopic refractive change;Pediatric cataract