Cataract

Definition: What Is Cataract?

A cataract is an opacity of the eye lens. As this causes a pupil's gray coloration in an advanced state, this disease of the eye is called a cataract. The word cataract is derived from the rigid gaze of people who are blinded by cataracts.

What Are the Causes of Cataract?

The exact mechanisms behind the opacity of the lens are mostly unknown. Most often, cataracts come with age. The cataract in older aged patients forms over ninety percent of all cataracts. But other causes can also lead to the disease. Eye injuries, exposure to radiation, some drugs (e.g., cortisone), chronic eye inflammation, or systemic diseases (e.g., diabetes) can be the trigger. In rare cases, a cataract can also be congenital.

Symptoms: How Does Cataract Manifest?

Cataracts develop gradually and painlessly. Usually, it leads to a slow loss of visual acuity resulting in blurred images. The sensitivity to glare also increases. In some cases (monocular), double images appear in one eye. In the case of hyperopia, a change in the glasses' visual acuity towards myopia is possible. If cataracts are not treated, parts of the lens may leak due to liquefaction in an advanced stage, leading to glaucoma.

Diagnosis: How Is Cataract Diagnosed?

If the first symptoms are noticed, a cataract diagnosis is quite simple for the ophthalmologist. A slit-lamp examination is carried out. The doctor looks at the eye under a microscope. A narrow slit-shaped beam of light coming from the slit lamp allows an optical cut through the eye's transparent sections. In this way, delicate structures in the front part of the eye become visible, and the pathological changes can be determined.

Therapy: How Can Cataracts Be Treated?

There is no drug therapy to treat cataracts. In the early stages of the disease, the impairments can be compensated with glasses. However, the vision can only be completely restored with the help of surgery. An artificial one replaces the clouded lens. This surgery is one of the most common and also one of the safest eye surgeries. It is usually carried out in an outpatient setting under local anesthesia and takes about half an hour. The eye is not only anesthetized, but its mobility is also restricted. The doctor makes a small incision at the edge of the cornea, opens the lens capsule circular, and gains access to the lens.

The clouded lens is shattered either with ultrasound or laser and sucked out of the lens capsule. In this way, the natural lens capsule is protected. An artificial lens is rolled up and placed into the empty capsule. The artificial lens is usually made of elastic materials. The lens unfolds inside the capsule. It is fixed in the lens capsule with two small elastic straps.

What Is the Prognosis After Cataract Surgery?

As already mentioned, cataract surgery is one of the safest surgeries on the eye and generally goes well. If the patient has no other eye disease, a complete recovery of vision can be expected.

However, after the artificial lens is placed, the eye loses its ability to adjust to different visual distances (accommodation). Patients will depend on wearing reading glasses.

The timing of the surgery is decisive for the degree of amblyopia in the case of congenital cataract. It should be carried out as soon as possible.

Which Doctors and Clinics Are Specialized in Cataract?

Patients who need cataract surgery want the best medical care. Consequently, the patient is wondering where to find the best clinic for cataracts.

This question cannot be answered objectively, and a reliable doctor would never claim to be the best one, so we can only rely on the doctor’s experience. The more cataract surgeries are carried out, the more experienced the doctor becomes.

Cataract surgery is carried out by ophthalmologists who specialize in the treatment of the eye’s anterior segment. Due to their experience and many years of working as eye specialists focusing on cataract surgery, they are the right professionals to contact for cataract surgery.