TREATMENT OF CATARACT AFTER SILICONE OIL TAMPONADE

The most important complication of intraocular silicone oil is cataract formation. This leads not only to deterioration of the patients vision, but also to impairment of fundus visualisation. Preventing cataract formation by removing the silicone oil in the first postoperative weeks is hampered by an increased risk of redetachment. Furthermore, even with silicone oil vitreoretinal complications occur in up to 37%. Therefore if cataract surgery becomes necessary, it should be performed maintaining the silicone oil tamponade. The most suitable technique under this condition is phacoemulsification, avoiding damage to the posterior capsule and zonules. Due to this consideration we performed phacoemulsification with in the bag implantation of intraocular lenses in 13 eyes after silicone oil procedure. In no case intra- or postoperatively silicone oil was visible in the anterior chamber. Visual acuity improved in about 50% of the eyes despite of capsular fibrosis being present in all cases. Postoperatively YAG-lasercapsulotomy led to functional improvement in only one out of three eyes.