Cataract extraction in uveitis: comparison of aphakia and posterior chamber lens implantation

We reviewed the charts of 39 patients (45 eyes) with uveitis who underwent cataract extraction (intracapsular or extracapsular) with or without implantation of a posterior chamber intraocular lens (IOL) at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, between 1981 and 1990. The nine eyes with Fuchs' iridocyclitis in which an IOL was implanted had good visual results and few postoperative complications. The 18 eyes with uveitis other than Fuchs' iridocyclitis that received an IOL did not show a greater risk of postoperative complications than those left aphakic (n = 17), and the postoperative visual acuity was comparable to that of the aphakic eyes. Although the numbers are small, we conclude that the presence of uveitis does not automatically exclude posterior chamber pseudophakia.