Original articlesUltrasound biomicroscopy of the anterior segment after congenital cataract surgery
Section snippets
Patients and methods
Ultrasound biomicroscopy (model 840, Zeiss-Humphrey Instruments, San Leandro, California) was performed on 28 eyes of 15 patients who underwent cataract surgery before the age of 10 years, from 1980 to 1994, in our hospital and on 21 eyes of 11 phakic control subjects who were healthy. All patients with congenital cataract were detected by their white pupils and visited our hospital with their parents. The patients were operated on by three surgeons and have been followed up on a regular basis
Results
Of the 15 patients, 10 were male and five were female. The mean (± SE) age was 13.1 ± 1.1 years (range, 8–27 years) for patients after congenital cataract surgery and 11.5 ± 1.1 years (range, 6–17 years) for control subjects. There was no significant age difference (P = .34, Student t test). Thirteen patients had bilateral aphakia, and two had unilateral aphakia. In two unilateral cases, one had a clear lens in the contralateral eye and the other had a slight opacity, but surgery had not been
Discussion
There are many reports of eyes manifesting glaucoma after congenital cataract surgery. Angle-closure glaucoma was once the type that commonly occurred soon after cataract surgery. This happened because the residual cortex or anterior vitreous caused a pupillary block and thus resulted in peripheral synechiae. However, automated vitrectomy gradually replaced one- and two-stage needling. This resulted in a more complete removal of the cortex and anterior vitreous and a lower incidence of
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