Objectives: To compare visual outcomes, principally myopic shift, visual acuity, intraocular pressure and strabismus between primary and secondary intraocular lens (IOL) implantation following congenital cataract surgery. Methods: A retrospective study of the long-term ocular outcomes in primary versus secondary IOL implantation (IOL-I) following congenital cataract surgery was conducted. We analyzed the files of all children with congenital cataract who underwent unilateral or bilateral lensectomy, posterior capsulotomy and anterior vitrectomy followed by primary or secondary IOL-I between 2000 to 2012, at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah. Preoperative and postoperative assessment of each operated eye in terms of axial length, refractive errors, strabismus as well as (post IOL-I) intraocular pressure (IOP) and best corrected visual acuity (BC-VA) were collected and analyzed. Results: Data of 26 eyes of 14 patients (9 males, 6 females) was analyzed: 16 (61.5%) eyes underwent lensectomty and anterior vasectomy with primary IOL-I and 10 (38.5%) eyes underwent lumpectomy and anterior vasectomy with secondary IOL-I. Mean age at cataract surgery was 67.53 (± 48.70) months in the group of primary IOL-I versus 5.90 (± 3.72) months in the group of secondary IOL-I; and patients were followed up for 49.33 (± 26.23) versus 86.50 (± 23.36) months, respectively (p=.051). In the secondary IOL-I group, the mean of time from primary lensectomy to IOL-I was 50.44 (± 18.41) months. Last BC-VA showed better outcomes in primary IOL-I group as 10 eyes (83.3%) with good VA versus only 2 eyes (20%) in the secondary IOL-I, (p=0.009). Myopic shift was greater in secondary IOL group 10.86 (± 11.62) versus 0.19 (± 2.38) diopters (D) in primary IOL (p=0.046*); while no significant difference was observed in IOP (p=0.697). No case of isotropic was detected in primary versus 6 cases in the secondary IOL group. Conclusion: Visual outcomes, including visual acuity, strabismus and myopic shift were better in the group of children who underwent primary IOL implantation at age of >2 years, when compared to those with secondary IOL implantation at the age of <2 years, following congenital cataract surgery. However, poor visual acuity in the secondary IOL group was mainly explained by the relatively higher prevalence of eye complications in this group.
Primary and Secondary Intraocular Lens Implantation in Congenital Cataract Surgery: A Retrospective Comparative Study of the Visual Outcomes
