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Increasing rate of TASS a concern for cataract surgeons
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 Alain Bron |
PARIS — While endophthalmitis rates have decreased thanks to effective prophylactic measures adopted in the last few years, outbreaks of toxic anterior segment syndrome might become the new nightmare of cataract surgeons, according to one surgeon speaking here.
"Ironically, it is the long chain of procedures that have been implemented to enhance safety standards to be responsible for the increasing prevalence of TASS," Alain Bron, MD, said at the meeting of the French Society of Ophthalmology. "In this long chain, we cannot control every step, and something somewhere sometime goes wrong."
TASS is a noninfectious complication of anterior segment surgery, mainly caused by contaminants used in solutions and cleaning and sterilizing agents for surgical equipment.
"In our clinic, we have recently moved to centrally controlled procedures for disinfection of ocular instruments, and we have had 10 cases of TASS as an almost immediate consequence. After a long investigation, we found that the likely cause was a dysregulation in the dosing system of a detergent used for cleaning the instrument, due to a failure of electronic controls," Dr. Bron said.
Reports on TASS are rising, he said. He recommended close surveillance, particularly when routine procedures are modified by newly introduced regulations.
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