Cataract surgery outcomes in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus

Sumita Agarkar; Akila Chandrasekaran; Gayathri J Panicker; Rajiv Raman

doi:10.1016/j.jaapos.2024.103926

Cataract surgery outcomes in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus

J AAPOS. 2024 May 7:103926. doi: 10.1016/j.jaapos.2024.103926. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Sumita Agarkar¹, Akila Chandrasekaran², Gayathri J Panicker², Rajiv Raman³

Affiliations

¹ Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Services, Medical Research Foundation, Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Electronic address: drsar@snmail.org.
² Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Services, Medical Research Foundation, Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
³ Department of Vitreoretinal services, Medical Research Foundation, Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

PMID: 38719142
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaapos.2024.103926

Abstract

Purpose: To report the outcomes of cataract surgery in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Methods: The medical records of all pediatric patients (<18 years of age) with a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes mellitus who had undergone surgery for cataract between January 2000 and December 2019 at a tertiary care center were reviewed retrospectively.

Results: A total of 27 eyes of 15 patients who met the inclusion criteria were included. Median age at cataract surgery was 13 (IQR, 9.5-16) years, and median follow-up was 3.8 (IQR, 1.25-7.2) years, with 11 eyes followed for more than 5 years. Visual acuity improved from a median preoperative value of 0.8 (IQR, 0.55-1.3) logMAR to 0.15 (IQR, 0-0.45) logMAR at final follow-up. Posterior capsular visual axis opacification in 40.7% and diabetic retinopathy in 14.8% were the common complications requiring additional intervention, including laser capsulotomy and panretinal photocoagulation, respectively.

Conclusions: Cataract surgery in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes leads to improvement in visual acuity. Proliferative diabetic retinopathy can lead to poor visual outcomes in these children. Visual axis opacification occurs at similar rates with or without primary posterior capsulorhexis.