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Nuclear cataract neutralizes age-related hyperopic shift
Nuclear cataract contributes to a mild myopic shift in refraction that neutralizes the hyperopic shift that occurs with age, according to a study by Australian researchers.
Chameen Samarawickrama, BSc, MBBS, MPhil, and colleagues at the University of Sydney investigated the correlation between nuclear opacity and spherical equivalent refraction in 3,654 patients aged 49 years or older included in the Blue Mountains Eye Study. They defined nuclear cataract as a level 4 or higher opacity, according to the study.
Patients without nuclear cataract had an annual mean hyperopic shift of 0.05 D (P < .0001). This shift disappeared in patients with such cataract, the authors reported.
In addition, a myopic shift in refraction only occurred in patients with nuclear cataract, they noted.
The study is published in the September issue of American Journal of Ophthalmology.