Advanced versus immature cataracts--a preliminary report

We did a prospective clinical study to determine whether removing cataracts which had reached an "advanced" stage were: (1) more difficult to remove, or (2) resulted in decreased postoperative visual acuity compared with immature cataracts. Our data showed that 48.5% of the advanced cases were more difficult to remove than immature cataract cases (17%). The presence of "peripheral lacy cortex" occurred 37 times more frequently in the advanced group than in the immature group. These two parameters might explain the difference in postoperative visual acuity where only 79% of the advanced and 92% of the immature cataracts had 20/40 visual acuity or better (P less than 0.01). Our results suggest that patients should be informed of the increased risks in waiting to have surgery done.