Abstract
Purpose :
We examined crystalline lens change in Japanese eyes with waterclefts (WC) in a 10-year longitudinal epidemiological study.
Methods :
Of 225 participants at both baseline and 10-year follow-up examinations in Monzen Eye Study, 435 eyes of 221 subjects (158 eyes of 81 males, 277 eyes of 140 females, 66.9±6.1 years old at baseline) were enrolled, excluding those implanted with an intraocular lens (IOL) at baseline. Lens opacities were examined by one ophthalmologist under maximum mydriasis, and were classified into 5 types; cortical (COR), nuclear (NUC) or posterior subcapsular cataract (PSC) according to WHO classification, and retrodots (RD) and waterclefts (WC) according to KMU classification systems. Presence of COR inside a 3-mm diameter central pupillary area was classified as CEN+ and outside as CEN-. Likewise, presence of WC was classified as central (WC+) and peripheral (WC-).
Results :
Eyes with IOL at the 10-year follow-up comprised 10.4%, 11.1%, 35.6%, and 41.9% of the eyes at baseline with transparent, only WC-, opacities other than WC, and WC- plus other opacities, respectively. Eyes with WC+ at baseline showed significantly higher operation rates; 60.0% in only WC+, 67.7% in WC+ plus other opacities (p<0.001, χ2 test). In eyes without WC at baseline, the 10-year incidence rate of COR was 27.3%, whereas it was a markedly high 45.3% among those with (p=0.15). In eyes with WC at baseline, females showed higher rates of COR progression (47.8%) and CEN+ (19.6%) at the 10-year follow-up, compared to males (26.7% and 6.7%, respectively), but not significantly.
Conclusions :
Eyes with WC+ show increased incidence of COR over a 10-year natural course with almost two-thirds requiring surgery.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.