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Cataract surgery not likely a risk factor for AMD
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CHICAGO — Cataract extraction is probably not a significant risk factor for progression of age-related macular degeneration, said Frederick L. Ferris, III, MD.
Dr. Ferris analyzed data from a subgroup of participants in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) to search for links between cataract extraction and AMD progression.
“The question of course is whether prior cataract surgery increases the risk of AMD,” he said.
Dr. Ferris and colleagues found no association between cataract surgery and AMD progression in the AREDS subset studied, he said. He described the group’s findings during the Retina Subspecialty Day preceding the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting here.
There have been questions in the literature regarding the possibility that cataract surgery may cause AMD, or on the other hand that AMD-related vision loss may lead to cataract surgery in some patients, Dr. Ferris said.
“I think everyone has had seen at least one patient who has come in and has had a cataract removed due to decreased vision, but the decreased vision is in fact from AMD,” he said.
Dr. Ferris said he used four statistical models to analyze the relationship between cataract surgery and AMD. They included ordinary logistic regression, the Cox proportional hazards model, repeated measures and a matched case/control approach.
No significant association was found between cataract surgery and AMD among the AREDS population using any of those models.
“Overall, we think [cataract surgery] patients shouldn’t necessarily be worried that they will increase their risk for AMD,” he said.