Outcome of phacoemulsification in patients with uveitis

Abstract
Aims: To examine the visual outcome and identify risk factors for postoperative uveitis, macular oedema and neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) capsulotomy after phacoemulsification and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation in patients with uveitis. Method: This is a retrospective review of the medical records of 101 eyes of 101 patients. One eye was randomly selected for inclusion in patients who had bilateral surgery. Patients with juvenile arthritis, keratouveitis and lymphoma-associated uveitis were excluded. Results: At the first postoperative and final visits, visual acuity was significantly better (pConclusion: Most patients with uveitis achieve improved visual acuity after phacoemulsification, but an increasing rate of visual loss is observed in those with pre-existent macular or optic nerve lesions. Identifying patients who are at risk of postoperative complications should help in patient counselling and to pre-empt these complications by using preoperative prophylactic corticosteroids, careful IOL selection and postoperative intensive corticosteroids.