Cataract progression after trabeculectomy is age-related, study finds

Age is the primary risk factor for cataract progression in eyes that have undergone trabeculectomy, according to a study.

Pia Ehrnrooth, MD, and colleagues in Helsinki, Finland, retrospectively analyzed 138 eyes of 138 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma or exfoliation glaucoma who were more than 40 years old and scheduled to undergo trabeculectomy. Of the initial eyes, 48 underwent a cataract operation within the next 2 to 5 years; 46 eyes were included in this study.

On average, the cataract surgery was performed 14.4 months after the trabeculectomy. The mean follow-up was 25.3 months. The mean IOP before surgery was 16.2 mm Hg, and the mean number of glaucoma medications prescribed was 0.8.

At the most recent follow-up point, mean IOP was 17.3 mm Hg, and the mean number of medicines prescribed was 1.3.

Overall, 22 eyes had been categorized as successful before undergoing cataract surgery (IOP under 21 mm Hg without treatment); 13 remained so after cataract surgery. The number of failures increased from 14 before cataract surgery to 28 after the cataract surgery.

“The proportion of failures in the cataract surgery group was twice that in the no cataract surgery group,” the researchers said in the September issue of Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica.