Cataract extraction surgery in patients with uveitis in Taiwan: risk factors and outcomes.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: To analyze the preoperative conditions and postoperative outcomes of phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation in Taiwanese patients with uveitis.

METHODS

This retrospective, consecutive case series study included 121 eyes of 84 patients with uveitis who underwent phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation from July 1996 to May 2006. The demographic data, postoperative outcomes, complications, and risk factors with regard to visual prognosis were analyzed. Visual acuity was converted from the Snellen equivalent to logMAR values.

RESULTS

This study included 51 men and 70 women with a mean ± SD age of 44.6 ± 18.4 years. The three most common diseases were idiopathic uveitis, Behcet's disease, and Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease. The best-corrected visual acuity improved from 1.52 ± 0.83 logMAR units preoperatively to 0.37 ± 0.59 logMAR units postoperative (p < 0.001). The most frequent postoperative complications were posterior capsular opacity (24 eyes) and cystoid macular edema (10 eyes). Anterior uveitis related to HLA-B27 had the best visual prognosis, whereas Behcet's disease had the poorest visual outcome (p = 0.029). Logistic regression analysis indicated that disease etiology (p = 0.011) and preoperative visual acuity (p = 0.020) were related to the postoperative visual prognosis.

CONCLUSION

Cataract extraction can improve visual function for most patients with uveitis. Postoperative complications were not uncommon and Behcet's disease had the poorest postoperative visual prognosis.