Abnormal development of the axial length of aphakic monkey eyes

Neonatal cataract surgery is becoming more common because irreversible amblyopia occurs if an eye receives inadequate inputs during an early sensitive period of visual development. To model conditions for treating congenital monocular cataracts in humans, we have reared rhesus monkeys which underwent unilateral lensectomy as neonates. Post-surgical A-scan ultrasonography at 8-26 months revealed that the axial length of the aphakic eye in these monkeys was shorter when compared to that of the unoperated eye. This finding has important implications for the long-term clinical management of lensectomized infants in order to achieve good vision in the aphakic eye.