Postoperative inflammation after cataract surgery in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

The purpose of the present study was to assess the influence of preoperativ e activity of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on early postoperative anterior cha mber inflammation after phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantati on. Twenty-three eyes in 18 patients were included in our study. On the fir st postoperative day, anterior chamber inflammation was observed in 11 eyes (47.8%). Five days after surgery, we found postoperative inflammation only in 1 eye (4.3%), Keratic precipitates were observed in 1 eye (4.3%) on the second postoperative day. We found no correlation between the extent of an terior chamber inflammation and the preoperative activity of RA, Postoperat ive anterior chamber inflammation was also not associated with the medical management of RA, Copyright (C) 2001 S.Karger AG, Basel.