[Ominous retinal changes in aphakia]

Report on examinations of the retinal periphery with a three-mirror contact lens during the first year following cataract operation. Latent retinal defects found in six out of 169 eyes were submitted to active detachment prophylaxis. In two eyes manifest retinal detachment was discovered and treated successfully. During the same period we saw seven patients with aphakia and retinal detachment who had undergone cataract surgery up to 13 years previously. In these cases too, anatomic healing was achieved, although in some cases several interventions were necessary and the result was functionally useful only in five cases. Therefore, the author urges that a biomicroscopic examination of the fundus periphery be performed at the latest during the first six months following cataract operation.