Ultrasonographic Findings in Pre-operative Cataract Patients in A Private Eye Clinic in South East, Nigeria

Abstract

This research investigated the pre-operative ultrasonographic findings in cataract patients from a private eye clinic in South East Nigeria. The study comprised a total of 117 patients with an average age of 65±11.9, 56.4% of whom were male. Most patients (88%) had poor pre-operative visual acuity, with a substantial proportion (86.3%) exhibiting afferent pupillary defect in the eye slated for operation. The study highlighted that a notable 59.8% of the patients underwent biometry. Notably, in addition to thickening and increase echogenicity of the lenses in the study population; the ocular ultrasound identified abnormalities in 43.6% of the eyes. Specifically, the occurrence of vitreous degeneration was the most common finding (39.3%), while vitreous hemorrhage was less common (0.9%). A statistically significant correlation was found between the presence of posterior synaechie and the ultrasound findings. In addition to ocular lesions, 33.3% of patients had systemic diseases, with hypertension being the most prevalent (25.6%). The ocular co-morbidity rate was 43.9%, primarily characterized by glaucoma (26.4%) and age-related macular degeneration (12.0%). These results underline the importance of pre-operative ocular ultrasound in detecting ocular abnormalities among cataract patients, and its critical role in planning for surgical intervention. These findings also emphasize the need to manage co-existing ocular and systemic diseases among cataract patients to optimize surgical outcomes.