Risk factors for waterclefts in human crystalline lens

Abstract

Purpose : We investigated risk factors for crystalline lens waterclefts by epidemiological surveys conducted in Japan, China and Taiwan.

Methods : The epidemiological surveys included 1736 participants aged over 50 (mean: 62.6±9.2) years, comprising 567 Japanese residents of Wajima city, 813 Chinese residents of Sanya and Taiyuan cities, and 356 Taiwanese residents of Taichung city. Five types of cataracts: cortical (COR), nuclear (NUC), posterior subcapsular (PSC), retrodots (RD) and waterclefts (WC) were judged by one ophthalmologist using a slit lamp microscope under maximum pupil dilatation. WC was classified as with vacuoles inside WC (WC+) and without (WC-). COR and WC comprised 3 types: central (CEN+) inside a 3-mm diameter of the pupil center, peripheral (CEN-) outside this area, and both locations (Both). We analyzed the risk factors for WC using logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, gender, smoker/non-smoker, spherical equivalent, corneal curvature radius and axial length, with/without diabetes mellitus (DM) and pseudoexfoliation syndrome. Also, we examined correlations between WC and risk of other types of lens opacity.

Results : Risk of all types of opacities including WC- and WC+ increased significantly with age. Eyes with WC- showed higher risks of COR(CEN+) and COR(CEN-) (p<0.001). Also, WC (Both) showed 1.18 times higher risk with 1 diopter hypermetropia as spherical equivalent. Eyes with WC+(CEN+) increased the risks for COR(CEN+) (p<0.05). Only for females, the risk for WC+(CEN+) increased 3.78 fold and that of WC+(CEN-) 2.36 fold. For patients with DM, the risk for WC+(CEN-) increased 5.54 fold.

Conclusions : WC- (Both) is more often present in hypermetropic eyes. Risk of WC+(CEN+) and WC+(CEN-) are higher in females. DM shows significantly higher risk of WC+(CEN-).

This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.