PURPOSE:

To evaluate the outcomes of cataract surgery in children with chronic uveitis.

SETTING:

Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institution, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

METHODS:

This retrospective chart review was of patients younger than 17 years with a history of uveitis who had cataract surgery before June 2004.

RESULTS:

Thirty-four children (41 eyes) were identified. The mean age of the 10 boys and 24 girls was 9.8 years (range 4 to 17 years) and the mean total follow-up, 4.1 years (range 0.3 to 15.7 years). Twenty-one children had juvenile idiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis, 7 had pars planitis, and 6 had other conditions. Sixteen patients had concomitant posterior segment pathology, 25 received perioperative immunomodulatory therapy, and 13 had intraocular lens (IOL) implantation. The postoperative best corrected visual acuity improved in 35 of 41 eyes; 31 eyes had an improvement of 3.6 lines at 1 year. Most patients (92%) improved after IOL implantation. Most patients (88%) who received immunomodulatory therapy attained better vision, but this was not statistically significant compared with those who did not (P = .47). Similarly, there was no statistically significant difference between those with posterior pathology and those without. At the end of the analysis (1 year), the cumulative probability of improvement in visual acuity in 41 eyes reached 0.91.

CONCLUSION:

In most cases, and with optimum control of intraocular inflammation, cataract surgery improved the visual outcome in children with chronic uveitis. Intraocular lens implantation was well tolerated in most cases, which may result in optimal vision.