RETINAL-DETACHMENT AFTER CATARACT-EXTRACTION IN MYOPIC EYES

Purpose: To determine the incidence of retinal detachment (RD) after c ataract extraction in people 40 years of age or older with axial myopi a (i.e., axial length greater than or equal to 25.5 mm). Setting: Fift een Danish eye clinics. Methods: Two hundred forty-five eyes had catar act extraction performed at 15 eye clinics; 237 eyes had extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) and 8 eyes, intracapsular cataract extract ion (ICCE). Postoperative data were reported by the practicing ophthal mologists. Mean follow-up was 27 months (range 14 to 32 months). Resul ts: Five RDs occurred in the 245 eyes (2.0%). Excluding the ICCE cases and the two cases of combined cornea transplantation and ECCE, RD occ urred in 4 of the 235 eyes that had ECCE (1.7%). The incidence after E CCE with posterior chamber lens implantation was 1.4%. Complete postop erative status was reported on 158 eyes. Forty-eight eyes (30.4%) had a neodymium:YAG capsulotomy and 3 (6.0%) developed an RD 1, 3.5, and 2 1 months after the capsulotomy. Conclusion: The RD incidence after ECC E with posterior chamber lens implantation was low but higher than tha t in unselected populations. The incidence increased after laser capsu lotomy.