Cataract Surgery Doesn't Worsen Macular Degeneration: Study
MONDAY, Nov. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Cataract surgery doesn't appear to speed the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a new study that challenges the belief that treating one cause of vision loss worsens the other.
"Because both conditions are strongly age-related, many individuals with cataract also have AMD," wrote Li Ming Dong, of Stony Brook University School of Medicine in New York, and colleagues. "There has been a long-standing controversy among clinicians as to whether cataract surgery is contraindicated in eyes with non-neovascular AMD. A major concern has been whether cataract surgery increases the risk of progression to neovascular AMD (an advanced form of the disease involving formation of new blood vessels) in eyes at risk of progression such as those with intermediate AMD."
In this study, the researchers examined 71 eyes of patients with non-neovascular AMD before, and at one week and one year after they had cataract surgery. After one week of follow-up, five eyes showed signs of neovascular AMD.
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