cataract
Inside the eye there is a tiny lens. When we are young, most people’s lenses are crystal clear. As we get older the lens slowly becomes harder and yellow. As the yellowing progresses over the years the lens becomes less and less transparent until it starts to affect the standard of vision. This yellowing of the lens is called cataract.
Everyone over the age of 60 years has some degree of yellowing. There are also many other types and causes of cataract other than the ageing process.
“There are three things that happen to us as we get older. We get grey hair, wrinkles and cataract”.
Once the cataract has progressed to a level where a change in spectacle prescription will not improve the vision to a standard acceptable to the patient, then one considers having an operation to remove the lens… removal of the cataract.
Cataract surgery has progressed remarkably over the last few years and our ophthalmic surgeon colleagues are incredibly skilled at removing the yellowed lens and replacing it with a tiny plastic lens. The operation may be done either under general or local anaesthetic.
The success of a cataract operation may be limited by pre-existing macular pathology, or postoperative macular complications. We recommend an examination pre and post operatively with the Stratus OCT, in order to establish and monitor macular integrity before and after eye surgery.
