Evaluating the evidence for and against the use of IOLs in infants and young children

ABSTRACT

Congenital cataracts account for 5-20% of childhood blindness worldwide. In the US, the prevalence of visually significant infantile cataracts is anywhere from 3-4 per 10,000 live births. Infantile cataracts need to be removed early in life in order to prevent the onset of deprivation amblyopia. As a result, cataract surgery is usually performed between age 4-8 weeks depending on the laterality and severity of the cataract. Given advances in the field, pediatric cataract surgery is now a safe and effective intervention for infants, but good visual outcomes require occlusion therapy and optical correction. This review will address current perspectives on the use of intraocular lenses to optically correct infants and young children after cataract surgery, as well as novel designs for intraocular lenses and directions for future research.

KEYWORDS:

• Congenital cataract
• infantile cataract
• primary infantile intraocular lens implantation
• Infant Aphakia Treatment Study
• IoL under 2 cohort study
• adjustable intraocular lenses

Financial and competing interests disclosure

The authors were supported by National Institutes of Health Grants U10 EY13272 and U10 EY013287 and in part by NIH Departmental Core Grant EY006360 and Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc, New York, New York. S. Lambert has received grants from the National Eye Institute. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.