Evaluation of phacoemulsification in elderly patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome

Objective To evaluate the intraoperative complication and postoperative visual acuity effect of phacoemulsification in patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome. Methods Phacoemulsification and intraocular lens(IOL) implantation was performed on 21 eyes of 19 pseudoexfoliation patients, aged 67-92 years old and (80.24±7.46) years old on average with the history of the disease being (7±4.3) years. Five eyes in Group 1 were complicated with glaucoma. In Group 2, phacoemulsification and IOL implantation was performed on 50 eyes in 42 patients with non-pseudoexfoliation syndrome, 〔aged 61-91 years, mean age (79.52±8.53) years〕. All operations were completed by one surgeon, and followed up for 1 year. Results In both Group 1 and Group 2, the occurrence of posterior capsular tear and vitreous body loss were 9.5% and 2.0%, respectively(P0.01), and visual acuity returned to 0.5 or better in 85.7% and 92.0% of patients, respectively(P0.01) one year after operation(P0.05). Ultrasound biomicroscope(UBM) examination showed that all posterior chamber intraocular lenses were in the capsular bag, and centrally located in anterior chamber IOL in one such operation case. Conclusions Although the occurrence of intraoperative complications for pseudoexfoliation syndrome is higher in Group 1, yet phacoemulsification and IOL implantation is safe. Some pseudoexfoliation syndrome patients with glaucoma take longer for recovery of visual acuity. Therefore, the phacoemulsification should be performed as early as possible in pseudoexfoliation syndrome patients with cataract.