What is cataract? The human eye is like a camera, and the lens is the lens of this “camera”. Cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye from transparent to opaque, which prevents light from entering the eye and thus affects vision. The initial clouding has little effect on vision, but later it gradually worsens and obviously affects vision or even blindness.
2. What are the causes of cataract?
Except for traumatic cataract, radioactive cataract, congenital cataract and diabetic cataract, which have obvious causes, the process of cataract formation may have various factors and the situation is quite complicated. The pathogenesis of common senile cataracts has not been fully revealed so far, and may be related to ageing, long-term excessive exposure to ultraviolet light, genetic factors, malnutrition, etc.
III. What are the treatment options for cataract?
Since the pathogenesis of senile cataract has not been fully revealed, the effect of drug treatment is very limited. Surgery is the most effective way to treat cataract. Currently, cataract surgery is generally divided into two types: modern extracapsular extraction and ultrasonic emulsion aspiration.
4. What are the advantages of cataract ultrasonic emulsion surgery?
Cataract ultrasonic emulsion surgery is a model of minimally invasive microsurgery and is currently the mainstream surgical method for cataract treatment. The procedure uses an ultrasound emulsification instrument to crush and aspirate the cloudy lens material through a corneal or scleral incision of about 3 mm, preserving the posterior lens capsule so that a posterior chamber IOL can be implanted. The significant advantages of this procedure are the small incision of 2.8 to 3.2 mm, no stitches, quick healing of the incision, small corneal astigmatism, and satisfactory visual acuity at an early stage.
Since 1998, our department has been the first to carry out cataract ultrasound emulsion surgery in the city, and has helped many cataract patients to see again; at present, our department completely performs hundreds of cataract ultrasound emulsion surgeries every year.
V. When should cataract surgery be performed?
Generally speaking, cataract surgery is elective surgery, and the timing of surgery is mainly determined by the degree of vision loss of patients and their demand for vision. However, in the middle and late stages of cataract development, some patients may suffer from complications such as glaucoma and uveitis due to the expansion of the lens or the release of crystal material, which may lead to complete blindness and eye atrophy in serious cases. Therefore, it is recommended that cataract patients receive surgery at the right time, and even if they do not want to undergo surgery for the time being, they need to be followed up in the hospital on a regular basis.