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Study: Visual acuity improved after cataract surgery in both diabetic and non-diabetic eyes
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Diabetic eyes had similar improvement of visual acuity as non-diabetic eyes after cataract surgery, showing that diabetic cases can achieve equal results, a study found.
"These findings suggest that for the majority of patients with diabetes, cataract surgery benefits them similarly to patients without diabetes," Calvin Fong, MBBS, and colleagues said in a poster presentation here.
They presented results of the Cataract Surgery and Age-Related Macular Degeneration Study at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting. The study had a total of 1,994 patients, and 1,208 patients were included in this analysis. Of those patients, 325 had diabetes; of those, 134 had diabetic retinopathy and 44 had previous laser treatment.
Follow-up was 12 months.
Dr. Fong and colleagues found that diabetic, diabetic with diabetic retinopathy and non-diabetic patients had an average of two lines of visual acuity improvement. In diabetic retinopathy patients who had previous laser treatment, the improvement was one line.
This poster simply confirms what most of us already knew: that cataract surgery can improve vision significantly in diabetics and non-diabetics. With cataract surgery so overwhelmingly successful today, the visually rate-limiting step is usually retinal function. If the macula is normal, then I expect 20/20 vision or better after surgery. As to the statement that the results are similar for diabetics and non-diabetics, again, if the diabetic macula is normal, then this study confirms what most of us have seen, and that is with appropriate anti-inflammatories, they will also have excellent postoperative vision.
The real question concerns those patients with diabetic retinopathy. The majority, with the great treatment today, still have great potential. They did find, not surprisingly, that after the need for diabetic laser treatment, the improvement in vision was not as robust. So, again, no surprises here – the macula is the most common rate-limiting step in visual recovery.
– Randall J. Olson, MD
OSN Cataract Surgery Board Member