Visual outcome following extracapsular cataract extraction in mature cataracts with pseudoexfoliation syndrome: A retrospective study

The Minimally Important Difference (MID) in Visual Acuity That Represents Changes in Patients' Quality of Life

To assess the minimal change in visual acuity perceived by patients as important in different eye-related interventions. PubMed was utilized to search articles on each of the four major interventions: cataract surgery, keratoplasty, different glaucoma treatments, and refractive eye surgery, each combined with quality of life (QoL) and visual acuity keywords. The search was narrowed to articles between 2000 and 2023. Seventy-four major articles were thus reviewed. Of these, 27 studies reviewed the results of cataract surgery, 20 studies discussed the effect of keratoplasty interventions on the vision-related QoL (VRQoL), most showing that VRQoL improved significantly after keratoplasty, 11 studies investigated the effect of different glaucoma interventions on patients' visual acuity and the QoL, 16 studies reviewed refractive surgery, where they showed an improved QoL in most of the cases, although some of the studies showed a slight superiority of one intervention over the other in the short term. The minimally important difference (MID) perceived in visual acuity depends mainly on the type of surgical intervention (keratoplasty, glaucoma, or refractive surgery), and the impact on QoL on improved visual acuity differs depending on the intervention.

Conventional extracapsular cataract extraction and its importance in the present day ophthalmic practice

Purpose:

A retrospective study aimed to evaluate high risk cases where conventional Extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) was performed, their intra-operative and post-operative outcomes.

Setting:

Sri Srinivasa Sankara Nethralaya (Tirupati) Tirumala Tirupati Devastanams Central Hospital, Tirupati, India.

Subjects and Methods:

Retrospective study of 207 patients who underwent ECCE at the hospital between august 2010 to June 2012. Operative data included details like grade of risk, intra and postoperative complications and visual outcome.

Results:

Out of 207 cases, 188 were in group 3 (moderate risk, 3-5 points) and 19 in group 4 (high risk, 6 points or more). The intra operative complications in group 3 were 8 (0.042%) and none in group 4. Final best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 6/12 and more were 184 (88.88%). Final refraction of less than 2.0 astigmatism was seen in 80.19% (n=166).

Conclusion:

Segregation of cases depending on the risk factors can lead to lower intra operative complications and therefore good postoperative outcome. We believe that phacoemulsification, manual small incision cataract surgery (MSICS) and ECCE each has its own importance and should be used as per the cataract with risk factors.