How much vision can be restored after cataract surgery? This is a question that concerns all cataract patients.
In order to answer this question, you readers should first join me in understanding what it takes for the human eye to see objects clearly.
We often compare the eye to a camera. This is a very apt analogy. The camera has to take a clear picture, which is equivalent to the human eye seeing the object clearly. Camera photos are clear, and the camera itself is the most relevant to the two main points: the lens and the negative. If the lens is dirty or hairy, the photo will be blurred. If the negative is bad, then the lens is no longer advanced will not help, the photo will not be clear.
The eye is the same. The refractive medium of the eye is equivalent to the lens of a camera, from front to back, including the cornea (black eye), atrial fluid, lens, and vitreous humor. The retina and optic nerve of the eye, as well as the optic tract and cortex of the brain, are equivalent to the negative of a camera. Problems with any of the “lenses” or “negatives” will affect the quality of imaging.
A cataract is a clouding of the lens. Cataract surgery is a procedure to replace the third lens, the lens. A corneal transplant is a procedure to replace the first lens. Vitrectomy is a procedure to replace the fourth lens. Atrial fluid is body fluid that circulates in the anterior and posterior chambers and renews itself.
If only the third lens has become cloudy and not clear enough to affect vision, and all other individual lenses as well as the negatives are healthy, then it is possible that vision can be restored to 1.0 or even 1.5 after cataract surgery. If there are other lenses with problems, then the improvement of vision after surgery is limited. If the negative is bad, there is retinal malfunction or other diseases of the retina, optic nerve, optic bundle, or optic cortex, then there may be limited or even no improvement in vision after surgery. Some diseases, such as retinal detachment and macular edema, may also worsen during cataract surgery, and vision may even decrease after surgery.
In addition, because the IOL is not adjustable like the lens of the human eye, its degree is fixed, so the camera, the human eye, will change from a zoom lens to a fixed-focus lens after cataract surgery.
In conclusion, cataract surgery can only solve the vision loss caused by lens clouding. If the vision loss is caused by problems with the cornea, vitreous, retina and nervous system, then cataract surgery is not effective. If the cataract is significant and other conditions mentioned above are also present, then cataract surgery can improve that part of the vision loss due to the cataract.