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Cataract surgery linked to increased risk of ARM in older people

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Cataract surgery in older people may be associated with an increased subsequent risk for developing late-stage age-related maculopathy, particularly neovascular ARM, data from two large population-based cohort studies suggest.

Paul Mitchell, MD, PhD, FRANZCO, and colleagues at the University of Sydney (Australia) combined data from the Beaver Dam Eye Study and the Blue Mountains Eye Study to determine the risk of developing late-stage maculopathy after cataract surgery. Follow-up was 5 years for a total of 6,019 participants from the two studies. All participants were at least 43 years old at baseline. Both studies used similar protocols for retinal photography and photographic grading.

Of the participants, 11,391 eyes were considered at risk for developing late-stage ARM. Of those eyes, 315 were nonphakic (ie, either aphakic or pseudophakic). Late-stage ARM developed in 6% of the right nonphakic eyes and in 7.5% of the left nonphakic eyes. Just 0.7% of the phakic eyes developed late-stage ARM.

The study is published in the October issue of Ophthalmology.