[From cataract eyeglasses to the artificial lens--changes in cataract surgery]

After a brief retrospective on the millennia-old technique of luxation of an opaque lens, the radical changes happening in the past 10 to 20 years to cataract surgery are outlined as follows: Microsurgical extracapsular cataract extraction and artificial intracular lens implantation. Some of the consequences for patient and physician are shown, particularly the criteria for undergoing surgery: cataract surgery should be performed whenever the cristalline lens opacities cause marked visual impairment to the patient.