[Cystoid macular edema and visual acuity with intracapsular cataract extraction and Choyce anterior chamber lens vs. extracapsular cataract extraction and posterior chamber lens in the partner eye].

A prospective study was conducted on 65 patients who had a cataract operation. One eye had intracapsular cataract extraction (ICCE) with a Choyce-IX anterior chamber lens (ACL) and the fellow eye extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) with a posterior chamber lens (PCL). To evaluate the cystoid macular edema (CME), a fluorescence angiogram was recorded on the day of discharge and after 6 months. The severity of the CME was classified in three stages (degrees I-III). At discharge, no eye had CME grade III. CME grade I or grade II was seen in the ICCE group in 23% and in the ECCE group in 7.6%. After 6 months one eye of each group showed CME grade III (1.5%). CME grades I and II were seen after ICCE in 13.8% and 7.8% while the eyes with ECCE presented CME in 6.1% of grade I and of grade II, respectively. Visual acuity (VA) in the eyes with grades I and II CME was the same as in eyes without CME. The VA (median) of the ICCE group was 0.8 and of the ECCE 0.7. Because of infection of the capsular bag (toxic lens syndrome), in one case the PCL together with the capsular bag had to be explanted after 7 months. As for visual acuity and clinically significant CME (grade III), there was no statistical difference between ICCE plus Choyce-IX ACL eyes versus ECCE plus PCL eyes in the same patient.