[Observation on surgical results of complicated cataract in patients with uveitis]

To evaluate the efficacy of surgical intervention of complicated cataract in patients with uveitis.

Fifty-one patients (69 eyes) with complicated cataract secondary to uveitis who had cataract surgery in Peking Union Medical College Hospital between January 2000 and August 2006 were retrospectively analyzed. Surgical procedures, visual outcome, postoperative recurrence of uveitis and complications were investigated.

Phacoemulsification was performed on 64 eyes (92.8%), while extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) was performed on the remaining 5 eyes (7.2%). Posterior chamber intraocular lens (IOL) was implanted in 61 eyes (88.4%), while the remaining 8 eyes (11.6%) remained aphakic, 6 of those were in patients who were blind in the other eye. At the final follow-up, 38 eyes (55.0%) had a best corrected visual acuity of 0.5 or better, an improvement that was highly significant (Z = 8.26, P < 0.001). Postoperative recurrence of anterior uveitis occurred in 19 (27.5%) eyes, however, 18 of them were pseudophakic, among which 5 eyes had 3 or more episodes of recurrence. Neodymium: YAG (Nd: YAG) laser posterior capsulotomy was performed in 24 (34.8%) eyes, however, 23 of them were pseudophakic, among which 7 eyes underwent at least two separate capsulotomies.

Surgical intervention of complicated cataract in patients with uveitis is effective and safe. In comparison with the pseudophakia group, less postoperative complications are found in patients without IOL implantation. Accordingly, it seems feasible that cataract extraction without IOL implantation is the procedure of choice for treating uveitis patients who are blind in the other eye.