English

Abstract

PURPOSE: To evaluate the prevalence of pseudo exfoliation syndrome among Kashmiri patients with age related cataract scheduled for surgery. In this study we also evaluated the prevalence of glaucoma and intraoperative complications associated with pseudo exfoliative syndrome. METHOD: The present prospective study was conducted in the Postgraduate Department of Ophthalmology, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Bemina from January 2005 to May 2007. The series included 1434 patients who were admitted for cataract surgery. Only patients with senile cataract were included in this study. All patients underwent a complete ophthalmological examination that included slit lamp evaluation with dilated pupil for pseudo exfoliative material, intra ocular pressure (IOP) measurements. All intraoperative complications were recorded. RESULTS: In our study the prevalence of pseudo exfoliation syndrome was found to be 22.52%. Pseudo exfoliation syndrome was bilateral in 78.83% of subjects and unilateral in 30.96%. Mean age of subjects with pseudo exfoliation was 71.9+8.3 years. Male to female ratio in pseudo exfoliation cases was 5.3:1. The most common type of cataract in pseudo exfoliative cases was nuclear cataract (52.4%) followed by mixed (20.7%), mature cataract (17.4%), cortical cataract (6.1%) and posterior sub capsular cataract (3.4%). Prevalence of glaucoma in the pseudo exfoliative group was 19.5% whereas in non-pseudo exfoliative group it was 3.9%, the difference being statistically significant (chi square = 89.35; p value < 0.001).Subluxation of the lens was seen in 5.26% of cases in pseudo exfoliative group where as in the non-pseudo exfoliative group it was only 0.27%, the difference being statistically significant (chi square = 41.808; p value < 0.001). Intraoperative complications were found more in the pseudoexfoliative group 11.4% as compared to non-pseudoexfoliative group (1.26%). The difference was again statistically significant (chi square = 75.831; p value < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of pseudo exfoliation syndrome in Kashmiri population undergoing cataract surgery is on the higher side. Pseudoexfoliation syndrome was found to be significantly associated with glaucoma and increased intraoperative complications.