Retinal breaks common in atopic cataract

FUKUOKA, Japan — Retinal breaks are common in patients with atopic cataract, a study here found. In the study, after extraction of atopic cataract, the highest frequency of retinal breaks occurred in eyes with mature cataract, and those breaks led to retinal detachment, the authors said.

Hideyuki Hayashi, MD, and colleagues reviewed the records of 106 eyes of 74 patients with atopic cataract, classifying the frequency of ciliary body or retinal breaks and retinal detachment preoperatively and postoperatively. Retinal breaks were detected in 27 eyes (25.5%) preop. Of those, 20 eyes had breaks present in the ciliary body, five had breaks near the ora serrata and two eyes had breaks in undefined locations. Of all these eyes, 16 had already developed retinal detachment.

After surgery, a ciliary body break occurred in one eye, and four eyes of three patients developed retinal detachments. Breaks that caused the postop retinal detachments were located in the ciliary body.

The authors classified the breaks by cataract type, and found the highest frequency was associated with mature cataracts (35%). “All eyes with breaks developed retinal detachment,” they reported.

The study is published in the August issue of British Journal of Ophthalmology.