Visual function linked to preBCVA in AMD cataract patients

Visual function improves in eyes with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) that have undergone cataract surgery, but the extent of the improvement depends on the eye’s preoperative best-corrected visual acuity (preBCVA), according to a new retrospective analysis published in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science.

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The US investigators studied 4,924 cataract surgeries on eyes with AMD for which preoperative and postoperative NEI-VFQ-25 questionnaires had been submitted. All were from the VA Ophthalmic Surgical Outcomes Data Project. The researchers compared outcomes in these eyes with outcomes in control eyes that did not have retinal pathology, looking at changes in visual acuity and improvement in overall visual function and its subscales.

Analysing overall scores, the investigators found that, for eyes with a preBCVA of ≥20/40, the improvement in visual function was similar to that seen in patients without retinal pathology. If the eye’s preBCVA was <20/40, however, then there was a lesser degree of improvement; the amount of improvement decreased with decreasing preBCVA.