Congenital rubella syndrome and its postoperative visual outcome: A prospective longitudinal study in a tertiary care hospital in eastern India

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Congenital rubella syndrome is a threatening consequence of rubella infection in pregnancy characterized by the triad of cardiac, ocular & hearing defects. The morbidity and financial load associated with congenital rubella syndrome have an adverse effect on the quality of life. AIMS and OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the postoperative visual outcome of congenital rubella cataract and assessment of the immediate postoperative complications.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Institution-based longitudinal prospective observational study was carried out among 21 patients aged 1 month to 6 years of both sex groups with congenital rubella cataract. A single surgeon performed phacoaspiration and anterior vitrectomy. Intraocular lens implantation was done in children aged >2 years where the rest were kept aphakic. Best-corrected visual acuity and immediate postoperative complications were assessed in all cases preoperatively and at 1 week, 4 weeks, and 6 months postoperatively.STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data were entered into Excel and analyzed by SPSS (version 25.0; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) and Graph-Pad Prism version 5.RESULTS: The study evaluated 28 eyes of 21 patients. The mean age of the study population was 21.1 ± 20.27 months with male predominance (1.625:1). Among 28 eyes only 10 eyes (35.71%) single-piece acrylic hydrophilic intraocular lenses were implanted and the rest 64.29% were kept aphakic. Immediate postoperative complications were noted such as anterior uveitis(9 eyes), corneal edema(3 eyes), striate keratitis(6 eyes) with more predilection towards aphakic patients & rest had no significant complications. At 6 months follow-up, significant improvement of best-corrected visual acuity (≥6/60) was noted in 52.38% of eyes which was about 5.12% pre-operatively ('P' value <0.01).CONCLUSION: Significant improvement in visual outcome was noted with early diagnosis and intervention with acceptable rate of immediate postoperative complications.