Abstract
Purpose :
To characterize outcomes of cataract surgery in patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) or Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), to allow for better prognostication and management of their post-operative care.
Methods :
A retrospective chart review between January 2013 and December 2016 of adult patients with HIV or HCV who had undergone cataract extraction. The control group consisted of consecutive adult patients who had undergone cataract extraction but did not have HIV or HCV. We excluded patients with prior ocular surgery, diabetic retinopathy, or ocular inflammation. Age, type of cataract, comorbidities, medications, ocular history, pre- and post-surgical best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), intraocular pressure, anterior chamber cell, and duration of steroid taper were analyzed using a one-tailed student t-test with a variance of three.
Results :
Thirty-six patients in the HCV group, twenty-two patients in the HIV group, and eighteen controls (of forty consecutive screened patients) met the inclusion criteria. Both the HIV and HCV groups were found to be younger at the time of surgery than the controls [HIV (61.24 years old (yo), p=0.002), HCV (63.56 yo, p=0.0002), control (69.2 yo)] (Image 1). There was no statistically significant difference between the ages of the HIV and HCV groups (p=0.12). Both the HIV and HCV groups had a worse logmar BCVA post operatively than controls [HIV (0.15, p=0.01), HCV (0.17, p=0.009), control (0.067)] (Image 2). There was no statistically significant difference in post-operative BCVA between the HIV and HCV groups (p=0.34). Both the HIV and HCV groups required longer steroid tapers compared with controls [HIV (9.08 weeks, p=0.02), HCV (8.53 weeks, p=0.01), control (7.38 weeks)]. There was no statistically significant difference in the duration of steroid taper between the HIV and HCV groups (p=0.24).
Conclusions :
Patients with HIV and HCV undergo cataract surgery at a younger age, have worse BCVA post cataract surgery, and undergo a lengthier post-operative steroid taper compared with controls. Larger studies are needed to further investigate these findings.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.