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Study: cataract surgery has no influence on diabetic retinopathy progression
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VIENNA, Austria — Cataract surgery seems to have no influence on the progression of diabetic retinopathy, results from a study here indicated.
A majority of the patients with non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy achieved an improvement in visual acuity, but poorer visual outcomes were observed in patients developing macular edema, researchers said.
Researchers here with the University of Vienna followed 42 patients with mild-to-moderate diabetic retinopathy who underwent phacoemulsification and IOL implantation. At 1-year follow up, visual acuity improved in 85% of the patients. Progression of diabetic retinopathy occurred in 12% of eyes after cataract surgery and in 10.8% of the non-operated fellow eyes. No patient developed proliferative diabetic retinopathy in the operated eye.
Clinically significant macular edema occurred in 13 operated eyes and in five non-operated eyes. Additionally, patients with macular edema had the worst prognosis regarding visual acuity.
The study is published in Graefe's Archives of Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology.