Changing trend in the morphology of cataracts at a tertiary eye care centre in South India due to COVID-19-pandemic related national lockdown

Sushank A Bhalerao; Saisree Majji; Ashik Mohamed; Sowjanya Vuyyuru; Pratik Y Gogri; Prashant Garg

doi:10.4103/ijo.IJO_1277_21

Changing trend in the morphology of cataracts at a tertiary eye care centre in South India due to COVID-19-pandemic related national lockdown

Indian J Ophthalmol. 2021 Dec;69(12):3643-3647. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_1277_21.

Authors

Sushank A Bhalerao¹, Saisree Majji¹, Ashik Mohamed², Sowjanya Vuyyuru³, Pratik Y Gogri⁴, Prashant Garg⁵

Affiliations

¹ Consultant Ophthalmologist, The Cornea Institute, KVC Campus, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India.
² Ophthalmic Biophysics, KAR Campus, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
³ Department of Comprehensive Ophthalmology, KVC Campus, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India.
⁴ Consultant Ophthalmologist, Cataract and Refractive Surgery Services, KAR Campus, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
⁵ Consultant Ophthalmologist, The Cornea Institute, KAR Campus, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.

Abstract

Purpose: To study the changing trends in the morphology of cataracts at a tertiary eye care center in South India due to COVID-19 pandemic-related national lockdown.

Methods: A retrospective study conducted at a tertiary eye care center in Andhra Pradesh state of South India, which included 1724 patients (1753 eyes) who underwent cataract surgery at our center during April 2019-July 2019 (1298 eyes of 1271 patients) and April 2020-July 2020 (455 eyes of 453 patients). Factors studied included preoperative lens status, associated phacodonesis or subluxation, pupil size, other eye lens status, associated retinal problems, glaucoma, and complications during surgery. Postoperative uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), corneal clarity, intraocular pressure (IOP), and disc status at postoperative day 1, 1 week, and 1-month visits were compared.

Results: A significantly lower proportion of nuclear sclerosis (decreased from 83.2% in last year before lockdown to 55.2% during lockdown) and significantly higher proportions of mature, brown, or black cataract and phacomorphic, phacolytic, or Morgagnian cataract (increased from 15.5% in last year before lockdown to 43.8% during lockdown) were observed. The proportion of small-incision cataract surgery decreased significantly (from 63.2% to 57.4%), whereas the proportion of phacoemulsification increased significantly (from 35.9% to 41.5%) during lockdown as compared to last year. A significantly higher proportion of eyes with small pupils and association with retinal pathology were also observed during the lockdown.

Conclusion: During the national lockdown, there was a shift from nuclear sclerosis grade toward mature, brown, black grade of cataracts. In addition, the proportion of small-incision cataract surgery decreased significantly whereas the proportion of phacoemulsification increased significantly during the lockdown. More number of cataracts with small pupils and associated retinal pathology were observed during the lockdown.

Keywords: COVID-19; morphology of cataracts; national lockdown; phacoemulsification; small-incision cataract surgery.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Cataract Extraction*
Cataract* / epidemiology
Communicable Disease Control
Humans
Lens Implantation, Intraocular
Pandemics
Phacoemulsification*
Postoperative Complications / epidemiology
Retrospective Studies
SARS-CoV-2
Treatment Outcome