Cataract Blindness Grading Method Offers Positive Results for Visual Acuity

WASHINGTON — A new method for surgically grading cataract blindness has shown positive results in visual acuity and low complication rates, according to a speaker here.

“The phacoemulsification of these advanced blind cataracts poses distinct surgical challenges,” Katherine S. Peters, MD, said at the meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. “They are at high risk for many complications, including posterior capsular rupture.”

Katherine S. Peters

Peters and his colleagues conducted a series of consecutive cases of 325 eyes with advanced cataracts. All patients were operated on for cataract by a single surgeon. The slit lamp results were categorized by color and the groups were further subdivided according to nuclear density.

Eight to eight eyes were classified as white and 237 as dark. At postoperative week 6, uncorrected visual acuity was 20/30 and no visually significant complication rates were observed.

“I think this system is simple, easy to remember, and can be very helpful in guiding the surgical approach in these difficult cases,” Peters said.

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Meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery