Evaluation of Factors Affecting the Results of Pediatric Cataract Surgery: A Retrospective Case Series

Objective: To evaluate the effect of various factors, including age, laterality, surgical technique used, intraocular lens (IOL) implantation site, and target refraction, on the long-term outcomes of pediatric cataract surgery. Material and Methods: This single-center, retrospective case series included 74 eyes of 50 patients who underwent surgery for pediatric cataract. Patients were divided into subgroups: Group I [posterior continuous curvilinear capsulorhexis (PCCC) combined with anterior vitrectomy (AV) and aphakic follow-up], Group II (PCCC combined with AV and IOL implantation), Group III (IOL implantation only without PCCC and AV). Patients were also divided into 4 subgroups according to the age at primary surgery as Group A (0-3 months), Group B (3-12 months), Group C (12-24 months), and Group D (24 months and over). Results: The mean age of all patients was 55.90±48.0 months. Thirteen (81.25%) eyes in Group I had visual acuity of 0.1 or less, 28 (65.1%) eyes in Group II had visual acuity between 0.1-0.5-9 (60.0%) eyes in Group III had visual acuity of 0.5 or more (p<0.001). Secondary glaucoma was detected in 15 (20.3%) eyes and it was significantly higher in the ciliary sulcus group (n=8, 29.6%) than in the capsular bag group (n=2, 6.5%) (p=0.042). Posterior capsuler opacity was observed in 8 (10.8%) eyes, including 1 (2%) eye in Group II and 7 (46.6%) eyes in Group III (p<0.001). Conclusion: The surgical technique used, the location of IOL implantation, the timing of secondary IOL implantation and determination of target refraction are extremely critical in pediatric cataracts.