Impairments of Visual Function and Ocular Structure in Patients With Unilateral Posterior Lens Opacity

We investigate visual function impairment and ocular structure in patients with unilateral posterior lens opacity, a type of congenital cataract (CC) in our novel CC category system.

We studied patients aged 3 to 15 years who were diagnosed with unilateral posterior CC. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and visual evoked potentials (VEP) were examined. Corneal astigmatism (CA), mean keratometry, central corneal thickness, anterior chamber depth (ACD), and axial length were measured by Pentacam and IOL-Master. Variations between two eyes were compared by paired t-tests.

Among the 25 patients involved, BCVAs (logMAR) of cataractous and contralateral healthy eyes were 0.8 ± 0.4 (range, 0.1-1.7) and 0.1 ± 0.1 (range, -0.1 to 0.4). Compared to contralateral healthy eyes, larger CA (1.8 ± 1.2 vs. 0.9 ± 0.4 diopters [D], P = 0.002) and deeper ACD (3.7 ± 0.3 vs. 3.5 ± 0.4 mm, P = 0.009) were found in cataractous eyes. No significant positive or negative linear relationship was found between BCVA and parameters of VEP. Peak time of P100 of pattern VEP-60' in cataractous eyes was longer than that in contralateral healthy eyes (114.9 ± 18.8 vs. 105.0 ± 12.4 ms, P = 0.013). Amplitudes of P100 of patterns VEP-60' and -15' in cataractous eyes were smaller than those in contralateral healthy eyes (PVEP-60', 15.2 ± 5.3 vs. 19.9 ± 10.4 μV, P = 0.023; PVEP-15', 10.4 ± 7.0 vs. 22.1 ± 11.9 μV, P = 0.012).

Impaired visual function and ocular structure were detected in patients with posterior lens opacities.

This study provides evidence-based clinical recommendations for unilateral posterior CC patients with controversial treatment options.