The Refractive Changes In Children After Cataract Surgery

Objective To evaluate the refractive status in infants who underwent cataract surgery before one year old. Methods : Refraction examination was preformed in 58 aphakia children (108 eyes, unilateral aphakia 8 eyes), who underwent binocular or unilateral cataract surgery before one year old, in their age of 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, 12 months 18 months, 24 months, 30 months and 36 months. 45 male (83 eyes) and 14 female (26 eyes) were included. The mean age at the time of cataract surgery was 5.28 months. Results: The average reduction of refraction in first 3 years is 5.007D. The mean reduction in the first year is 2.550D, in the second year is 1.654D, and in the third year is 0.873D, the difftrences among each year were statistically significant (P <0.01). Conclusion: The refraction of aphakia children is reduced the most in the first year. The annual reductions are more than that in normal children in the first three years. Key words: Congenial Cataract; Aphakia; Refractive Change