Abstract
Purpose :
To evaluate the preexisting posterior capsule abnormalities in congenital cataract and figure out the potential relationship among them.
Methods :
A total of 155 children (241 eyes) with congenital cataract who underwent cataract surgeries in Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University were included. All surgeries were performed by one experienced surgeon (Z.Y.) and videos were collected for reviews in details. Preexisting posterior capsule abnormalities were recorded including persistent fetal vasculature (PFV), posterior capsule defect (PCD), and posterior lenticonus (PLC).
Results :
The total rate of PFV, PCD, and PLC in all congenital cataract eyes was 32.8% (79/241). The percentages of PFV, PCD, and PLC were 11.2% (27/241), 22.8% (55/241), and 3.7% (9/241), respectively. There were 9 eyes combined with PFV and PCD (3.7%, 9/241) and 3 eyes combined with PCD and PLC (1.2%, 3/241).
In the congenital cataracts combined with PFV, there was much more unilateral ones than bilateral. Besides, combined PFV was much more frequent than anterior PFV. Many eyes with congenital cataract and PFV also combined with other ocular malformations including posterior capsule defect, iris coloboma, lens dislocation, and so on. Among all congenital cataract children, PCD was found in 55 eyes from 39 patients. There were more children with unilateral PCD than that with bilateral defect. There were some ocular malformations associated with PCD, including PFV, PLC, uveitis, and so on. Among them, PFV was the most common accompanist and the next was the PLC in unilateral patient with PCD. However, the most common accompanist was uveitis in bilateral children. In this study, PLC was usually associated with unilateral congenital cataracts rather than bilateral cataracts. Besides, PLC was always associated with PCD.
Conclusions :
Posterior capsule abnormalities, PFV, PCD, and PLC, play a very important role on the congenital cataract in pediatric patients. The congenital cataract is always associated with one or more abnormalities. The effect of fetal vessels in PFV eyes might be an abnormally strong attachment on the posterior capsule, forming PLC, PCD, or even lens opacities directly. In addition, PCDs might begin with PLCs even no posterior lenticonus area can be found in PCD eyes.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.