Epidemiology of pediatric cataracts – A 5 year retrospective study

Purpose: To determine the epidemiology, diagnosis and management of pediatric cataracts and to identify preventable factors and improve the visual prognosis in these patients. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted after reviewing the details of 87 patients of pediatric cataract aged between 3 months and 15 years who underwent cataract surgery in our institute from January 2014 to December 2018. A team of ophthalmologists and pediatricians attached to the center examined all the patients preoperatively. The type of cataract was determined using slit lamp biomicroscopy or operating microscope. Results: Congenital cataracts were 71.26% and acquired cataracts were 27.9%. Congenital cataract includes idiopathic (77.41%), hereditary (12.90%), associated with syndromes (8.06%) and rubella (1.61%). In congenital cataract group, 41 patients had bilateral cataract and 21 had unilateral cataract. In acquired cataract group, 23 had unilateral and 2 had bilateral cataract. Traumatic cataract was most common in boys in the age group of 11-15 years and most common cause of trauma was wooden stick injury (45%). All patients underwent surgery and were left either aphakic (planned for secondary IOL implantation) or pseudophakic and had post operative visual rehabilitation. Conclusion: Early diagnosis and treatment of pediatric cataracts in a high percentage of cases is the key for good visual outcome. Given the high proportion of idiopathic pediatric cataracts, prevention of the disease remains a challenge worldwide. © 2020 Published by Innovative Publication. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)