Abstract
Purpose
To compare intraocular straylight in normal and cataractous eyes as the morphology and to compare straylight as the result of subjective symptoms in early cataract cases using the C-quant straylight meter, the only tool to measure light scattering in media.
Methods
Straylight values were measured in 217 normal eyes and 138 cataractous eyes. Cataractous eyes were classified into posterior subcapsular opacity, anterior subcapsular opacity and nucleosclerosis. Straylight values of each group were measured. The 56 early cataractous eyes were categorized into two groups, depending on the presence of subjective symptoms, and each straylight value was measured. The preoperative and postoperative straylight values of early cataracts were also compared.
Results
The mean straylight values of normal and cataractous eyes were 1.34 and 2.46, respectively. The value of posterior subcapsular opacity (2.81) was significantly higher than that of anterior subcapsular opacity (2.33) and nucleosclerosis (1.99). The straylight values of early cataracts were significantly higher in the group with subjective symptoms (2.02) than in the group without subjective symptoms (1.56). The postoperative straylight value decreased to 1.42.
Conclusions
The posterior subcapsular cataract showed significantly high intraocular straylight, indicating that light scattering occurred to a greater extent in this group. Light scattering occurred more in early cataractous eyes with subjective symptoms than in eyes without symptoms, and light scattering was reduced after surgery. The C-quant straylight meter, which measures the light scattering in media, can be a useful tool to determine the time of cataract surgery and to evaluate the quality of vision.
References
1. van den Berg TJ. Introduction to retinal straylight. Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience;2004. p. 1–11.
3. van Rijn LJ, Nischler C, Gamer D, et al. Measurement of stray light and glare: comparison of Nyktotest, Mesotest, stray light meter, and computer implemented stray light meter. Br J Ophthalmol. 2005; 89:345–51.
4. Aslam TM, Haider D, Murray IJ. Principles of disability glare measurement: an ophthalmological perspective. Acta Ophthalmol Scand. 2007; 85:354–60.
5. Chylack LT Jr, Wolfe JK, Singer DM, et al. The Lens Opacities Classification System III. The Longitudinal Study of Cataract Study Group. Arch Ophthalmol. 1993; 111:831–6.
6. van den Berg TJ, van Rijn LJ, Michael R, et al. Straylight effects with aging and lens extraction. Am J Ophthalmol. 2007; 144:358–63.
7. García-Lázaro S, Ferrer-Blasco T, Ortí-Navarro S, et al. Relevance of pupil size in the clinical determination of retinal straylight on young healthy human eyes. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2010; 248:395–9.
8. Franssen L, Coppens JE, van den Berg TJ. Compensation comparison method for assessment of retinal straylight. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2006; 47:768–76.
9. Van den Berg TJ. Compensation comparison in the Oculus C-Quant Straylight Meter. Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience;2004. p. 1–18.
10. Coppens JE, Franssen L, van Rijn LJ, van den Berg TJ. Reliability of the compensation comparison straylight measurement method. J Biomed Opt. 2006; 11:34027.
11. Stifter E, Sacu S, Weghaupt H. Functional vision with cataracts of different morpholoties: comparative study. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2004; 30:1883–91.
12. Stifter E, Sacu S, Thaler A, Weghaupt H. Contrast acuity in cataracts of different morphology and association to self-reported visual function. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2006; 47:5412–22.
13. Chua BE, Mitchell P, Cumming RG. Effects of cataract type and location on visual function: The Blue Mountains Eye Study. Eye. 2004; 18:765–72.