Progression of nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy following cataract extraction
G. J. Jaffe and T. C. Burton
Department of Ophthalmology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 53226.
Eight patients experienced progression of nonproliferative diabetic
retinopathy following cataract extraction. Six patients underwent an
uncomplicated extracapsular cataract extraction with placement of a
posterior chamber intraocular lens, and in two patients, surgery was
complicated by vitreous loss. In each case the retinopathy progressed to a
severe exudative form of diabetic macular edema, characterized by diffuse
retinal thickening and fluorescein leakage with increased dot and blot
hemorrhages and lipid deposition. In all patients, clinically significant
macular edema developed in the eye that had been operated on, and six
patients received laser photocoagulation for this condition. Final visual
acuity was worse than preoperative visual acuity in six of eight patients,
and it was unchanged in two of six patients. No patient achieved a visual
acuity better than 20/50. The fellow eyes, which were not operated on,
remained stable during the follow-up period.
