Biometry characteristics in congenital cataract patients before surgery in a tertiary eye care centre in Nepal

Abstract

Purpose To evaluate the anterior segment biometry characteristics in congenital cataract patients before undergoing surgery in a tertiary eye care centre. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the charts of congenital cataract patients aged less than 15\u202fyears who had undergone the congenital cataract surgery from Jan-Dec, 2015. 451 eyes of 351 patients were reviewed. The eyes were examined using an autorefract-keratometer, applanation A-scan and parameters like keratometry, axial length, corneal astigmatism were noted. Results The mean age at the surgery was 92.4\u202f±\u202f4.13\u202fmonths (range 6\u202fmonths to 15\u202fyears). The ratio of boys to girls was 2.34:1. The mean axial length was 21.94\u202f±\u202f1.94\u202fmm. Girls had shorter axial length than boys (21.53\u202fmm vs 22.11\u202fmm, p\u202f=\u202f0.01). The axial length in the cataractous eyes in bilateral cases was significantly smaller than that in the unilateral cases (21.46\u202fmm vs 22.55\u202fmm, p\u202f<\u202f0.0001).The mean keratometry was 44.12\u202f±\u202f2.6 D. Girls had larger mean keratometry value than boys (44.71 vs 43.88, p\u202f=\u202f0.0032). Keratometry values were higher in cataractous eyes in bilateral cases than in the unilateral cases (44.61 D vs 43.51 D, p\u202f<\u202f0.0001). The mean corneal astigmatism was 1.49\u202f±\u202f1.13 D. The prevalence of the corneal astigmatism of 2.0 D or more was 25.5%. The with-the-rule astigmatism was the most frequent type (62.53%). Girls had higher mean astigmatism than boys (p\u202f=\u202f0.0122). The mean corneal astigmatism was higher in the cataractous eyes in bilateral cases than in the unilateral cases (p\u202f=\u202f0.0094). Conclusions The axial length, mean keratometry and corneal astigmatism in congenital cataract patients varied with age, gender, and laterality. The data on biometry characteristics of Nepalese pediatric patients provided in the present study are of clinical significance and hence greatly enhance the guidelines for treatment decisions, IOL power calculations and management of congenital cataract patients.