Ask An Expert: Cataract Surgery and Macular Degeneration

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Ask An Expert: Cataract Surgery and Macular Degeneration

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Question:

I have a posterior polar cataract. Is there an increased risk of macular degeneration after the surgery?

Answer:

Most posterior polar cataracts are congenital and do not require surgery. People with these types of cataracts usually get used to them and compensate quite well. Surgery might be recommended if the cataract was progressive and significantly impairing your vision.

I have to step back a bit and wonder if you have a posterior subcapsular cataract, a type that starts at the back of the lens. If that is the case, it's important to know if only one eye or both eyes are affected. In a person under the age of 50 with a cataract, potential causes should be explored.

There can be complications of any cataract surgery that involve the macula of the retina. But macular degeneration is not one of them. If indeed you do have posterior polar cataracts that need surgery, there is no increased risk. In fact, the surgery is usually easier than in cases of advanced senile cataracts, age-related cataracts.

Don Bienfang, M.D, is an assistant professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School and the Senior Surgeon in the Department of Surgery and Chief of Neuro-Ophthalmology in the Department of Neurology at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

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Last updated:	May 18, 2007

Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.

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