Outcome of childhood cataract surgery as seen at KNH

Abstract

Background: Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in children in East Africa. The outcome of surgery is poor, partly because of the inadequate correction of aphakia and also the loss to follow up in patients who have uneducated parents in most of cases. Objectives The aim of Lilt~study was to determine the visual outcome, the intraoperative and postoperative complications due to the childhood cataract surgery at KNH Methodology: A retrospective study, reviewed 77 patients between 1995 and 2005, 8 patients were e: eluded, with a total of 121 eyes analyzed from 58 bilateral and 11 unilateral cataracts. A follow up of 6 months was done and data was analyzed using SPSS 115 version Results: Preoperatively, 63.8% of patients were male, with a p value <0001. 62.3% of them were aged 1 year or less. it was noticed 72.5% of patients who came toKNH 6 months or less after the problem was noticed with a mean of 6.4 months for congenital cataract and 35.7 months for developmental cataract. 28 eyes had primary IOL implantation, 17 eyes had secondary IOL implantation and 76 eyes remained aphakics. Preoperatively, 71.1% of eyes were blind with 19.8% and 12.4% having nystagmus and strabismus respectively.