Cataract surgery in patients with nanophthalmos

To report the visual outcomes and complications of cataract surgery in a large series of patients with nanophthalmos.

Retrospective, interventional case series.

Forty-three eyes with an axial length ≤ 20.5 mm of 32 adult patients who underwent cataract surgery in a tertiary clinic.

Medical records of patients undergoing cataract surgery between 1994 and 2010 were reviewed.

Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at 6 months after surgery and postoperative complications occurring during the entire follow-up period.

Forty-three eyes of 32 patients (aged 19-87 years; median, 69 years) were included. Cataract surgery resulted in improvement of ≥ 3 Snellen lines in 19 eyes (44.2%). Two eyes (4.7%) lost ≥ 3 Snellen lines because of corneal decompensation in one and angle-closure glaucoma in the other. During the entire follow-up period, complications occurred in 12 eyes (27.9%). The most frequent complications were uveal effusion (9.3%) and cystoid macular edema (CME) (7.0%).

Cataract surgery in patients with nanophthalmos remains a surgical challenge, and complications often occur in these high-risk eyes.