The effects of form deprivation on axis length development in patients with unilateral congenital cataract

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Objective To study the axial elongation resulting from form deprivation caused by unilateral congenital cataract. Methods This was a retrospective case-series study that included 90 patients with unilateral congenital cataract who underwent cataract surgery from March 2009 to July 2015 in the Qingdao Eye Hospital. Of those patients, aged 2 months to 14 years (mean 4.04 ± 3.06 years), 46 were males and 44 were females. Patients were divided into 5 groups by age, ranging from-6 months (11 cases),-1 year (6 cases),-3 years (20 cases),-5 years (20 cases) and ~14 years (33 cases). The axial lengths (AL) of the cataract eyes and fellow eyes were compared using a paired t test. Based on the differences in AL, patients were divided into 2 groups: one group had shorter ALs (40 cases) in the cataract eye and the other group had longer ALs (50 cases). Linear regression was used to analyze the correlation between the form deprivation and the differences in AL length. Patients were divided into a full-opacity group (24 cases) and partial-opacity group (66 cases) based on the degree of lens opacity. Multiple regression was used to analyze the effects of form-deprivation duration, gender and degree of lens opacity on AL. Results AL was shorter in the cataract eyes in patients aged-6 months (t=-4.80, P 0.05). A correlation test showed that the difference in AL significantly increased with the duration of form deprivation (r=0.294, P<0.01), and the proportion of the patients in the group with longer ALs was greater in older children than in younger children. Multiple regression showed that the difference in AL increased with the duration of form deprivation (r=0.142, P<0.05), and the difference in AL was significantly higher in the full opacity group (r= 0.819, P<0.01). Gender did not significantly influence AL. Conclusion AL was initially shorter in the cataract eye. The AL of the cataract eye increased with an increase in the duration of form deprivation and eventually became longer. Full-opacity cataract affected AL more severely. Key words: Unilateral; Cataract, congenital; Form-deprivation; Axial length