[Modern surgery of cataracts]

Surgery of cataract has a history of almost 250 years. The first 150 years were in the sign of extracapsular extracion. The subsequent 70 years were devoted to the development and improvement of the technique of intracapsular extraction and the last more than 20 years are a return to extracapsular extraction. This is due in particular to the development of microsurgery. "Modern surgery of cataract" is thus extracapsular extraction at a microsurgical level, in indicated cases associated also with implantation of an intraocular lens. The author analyzes recent aspects of indication for operation, preoperative examination techniques, preoperative preparation of the patient, anaesthesia, the operation proper, correction of aphakia, and postoperative care. In the author's opinion the future of microsurgery of cataract will involve improvement and wider use of phakoemulsification and laser systems as well as new models and materials for artificial lenses. It is no longer an unreal dream to make through a minimal paracentesis a microincision of the capsule, remove the nucleus and mass intracapsularity and replace them by injection of a transparent, artificial gel.