Source: DGNews  |  Posted 2 years ago

SAN FRANCISCO -- November 3, 2009 -- A study published in the November issue of
the journal Ophthalmology shows that cataract surgery is likely to
benefit patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) at all stages of
the disease.

For the study, Emily Y. Chew, MD, National Eye Institute, Bethesda, Maryland
and colleagues obtained data from the multicenter, prospective Age-Related Eye
Disease Study (AREDS), which was organised primarily to evaluate the effects of
high-dose vitamin and mineral supplements on cataract and AMD.

“Earlier epidemiology had suggested cataract surgery might worsen AMD, so the
data from the AREDS cohort study were evaluated to answer this important
question,” said Dr. Chew.

The cohort, comprising 1,939 eyes from 1,244 patients) with various stages of
AMD, was evaluated for visual acuity after cataract surgery.

On average, patients with AMD, ranging from mild to advanced, gained visual
acuity after cataract surgery; the best gains were in patients with vision
worse than20/40 before surgery.

No difference in improvement was noted between patients with neovascular or
central geographic atrophy AMD.

About 1 year later vision gains remained statistically significant in the 865
eyes available for follow-up.

Results for the primary focus of AREDS, regarding the effect of nutritional
supplements, showed that high doses of vitamins C, E, and beta-carotene did not
affect the development or progression of cataract, but this vitamin combination
plus zinc did reduce the risk of progression to advanced AMD by 2% in the 5
years of the study.

SOURCE: American Academy of Ophthalmology