Effect of cataract surgery with intraocular lens implant on frequency doubling perimetry.

PURPOSE: To study the effect of cataract surgery with intraocular lens (IOL) on frequency doubling perimetry (FDP).

METHODS

Patients aged 40 years or above seen at our outpatient clinic with no ocular pathology except for visually significant cataract and visual acuity 6/24 or better were eligible. They underwent FDP before and 4 to 6 weeks after cataract surgery with IOL.

RESULTS

Screening test: Mean scores by three different scoring methods were 1.82 (3.21), 2.80 (5.54), 4.18 (9.18) before and 0.22 (0.51), 0.26 (0.63), 0.26 (0.69) after surgery (p = 0.002 0.001, < 0.0001). Threshold test: Mean deviation (MD) and pattern standard deviation (PSD) were -5.23 (3.08) and 5.15 (2.78) before and -2.94 [corrected] (2.49) (p < 0.0001) and 5.21 (1.780) (p = 0.63) after surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

The screening test should be interpreted cautiously in the presence of cataract. On threshold testing, cataract surgery causes significant decrease in MD but no change in PSD.