Examination of visocontrastometry after cataract phacoemulsification in patients with asteroid hyalosis

Purpose. To evaluate visocontrastometry after cataract phacoemulsification in patients with asteroid hyalosis. Material and methods. This study involved 52 patients (52 eyes) with confirmed diagnosis of cataract. Of these, 12 patients had concomitant ocular pathology – asteroid hyalosis. As part of the study, a study group (12 patients) was formed, which consisted of patients with diagnosed cataracts and asteroid hyalosis. Control group consisted of patients with cataracts without concomitant ocular pathology (40 patients). All patients of study group and control group underwent standard cataract phacoemulsification with implantation of a posterior chamber intraocular lens. All patients in the postoperative period underwent a standard ophthalmological examination at various terms (on the day of discharge, 1 and 3 months after surgery), supplemented by an assessment of the subjective level of «quality of life» using the validated ophthalmological questionnaire «The Visual Function test», and a spatial contrast sensitivity study was performed 1 month after surgery. Results. Spatial contrast sensitivity and the level of quality of life of patients in the study group had significant deviations from the indicator of patients in the control group, with relatively similar indicators of visual acuity. A tendency to decrease spatial contrast sensitivity has been revealed with a larger number of asteroid bodies in the vitreous body structure. Conclusion. Despite the relatively safe effect of the asteroid bodies on visual acuity, obtained data indicate a clinically significant effect of this pathology on spatial contrast sensitivity and subjective level of quality of life. Key words: cataract, asteroid hyalosis, spatial contrast sensitivity, visocontrastometry, phacovitrectomy, vitreous destruction