What is cataract?

Most people notice that their vision gradually deteriorates – objects may begin to look dull, yellow, hazy, blurred or distorted.

Some people also report:

• Double vision, or polyopia (objects appearing multiple)
• Haloes and glare at night
• Need of more light to see clearly
• Increasing nearsightedness.
• In advanced cases, the cataract may be visible as a whitish-looking pupil.
• Have some doubts? Come visit us! Book an appointment here.

Usually, when you start having difficulty doing your daily activities you need to have cataract surgery.

If you’re having trouble reading, watching TV, or driving, it’s time to talk to your eye surgeon about what can be done.

Modern cataract surgery can be performed successfully and safely in any season including summers and the rainy season.

Most people notice that their vision gradually deteriorates – objects may begin to look dull, yellow, hazy, blurred or distorted.

Some people also report:

• Double vision, or polyopia (objects appearing multiple)
• Haloes and glare at night
• Need of more light to see clearly
• Increasing nearsightedness.
• In advanced cases, the cataract may be visible as a whitish-looking pupil.
• Have some doubts? Come visit us! Book an appointment here.

At Shroff Eye centre, a comprehensive eye checkup and examination by an ophthalmologist on a slit lamp can determine if you have a cataract forming.

No, however early symptoms of cataracts can be managed with new prescription glasses or contact lenses, and by wearing sunglasses to counteract light sensitivity until it’s time to have surgery.

Unfortunately, currently no drops are available to cure cataracts.

Till date as per all authentic medical research no medication exists to prevent or cure a cataract. The only known and proven treatment for cataract is surgery.

However, research is ongoing and in the future they may find a non-surgical cure for cataract!

Cataracts may develop slowly over many years or they may form rapidly in a matter of months. Some cataracts never progress to the point that they need to be removed.
Your ophthalmologist can help you decide on the appropriate time for removal. Most people wait until the cataracts interfere with daily activities before having them removed.

Mature or advanced cataracts means that your cataract is at the last stage of its evolution and has become completely opaque leading to extremely poor vision. When you have mature or advanced cataracts you will usually require surgery in a relatively short amount of time.

Most patients with systemic illness such as diabetes and hypertension ( high blood pressure) can undergo cataract surgery if their parameters are under control and within acceptable limits.

We urge you to let our ophthalmologist know your detailed medical history. Our ophthalmologists will explain to you if you cannot safely undergo this procedure.

• Increased Precision and greater accuracy
• Less damage to surrounding structures with gentler removal of the cataract

You can expect to be at our center for a few hours ( usually about 4-5 hours). Most patients are in the procedure room for about half an hour. The 3D imaging and laser portion of the surgery take about 5 to 10 minutes.

Depending on your needs, you can talk to your doctor about advanced-technology lenses that not only correct cataracts but also other vision issues. If you know you have astigmatism, then a toric advanced-technology lens that can correct both your cataract and astigmatic power may be your best option for seeing distant things clearly. If you have difficulty seeing things close up due to presbyopia, there are also lenses available to help you see more clearly without relying much on reading glasses. Or even if you have astigmatism and presbyopia at the same time, there are lenses which can help you.

These are often referred to as:

• Toric IOLs : correct astigmatism and cylindrical power to help you see distant objects clearly
• Multifocal IOLs : enable the person to see near(read) as well as provide distance (driving) and intermediate (computer vision) vision
• 
Multifocal toric IOLs : correct astigmatism to provide clearer distance (driving) vision and correct presbyopia for intermediate and near vision

Once the IOL is implanted in the eye, it remains in place for the remainder of one’s lifetime

It's not unusual for minor refractive errors to be present after cataract surgery. IOL power calculation is done to try and reduce one’s dependence on glasses. However a minor number may be left behind despite the best calculations. These errors may be too insignificant to warrant additional surgery but still cause some blurriness — especially for tasks like driving at night.

If you choose standard cataract surgery with intraocular lens (IOL) implantation, it's likely you will need reading glasses and possibly computer glasses or other special-purpose eyewear afterward, depending on your visual needs.

But there also are cataract surgery options that can reduce or sometimes even eliminate your need for glasses. The use of premium implantable lenses such as (multifocal IOLs can provide excellent outcomes that enable many people to be glass-free for much of their day.Another option is monovision cataract surgery.

(Book your cataract appointment and discuss with our cataract surgeons the best choice for your visual needs during your pre-op eye exam and cataract surgery consultation.

Some people will experience improved vision from the very next day after cataract surgery! But for most people, the vision clears within two or three days. You may have to use some eye drops for a while and come for a follow up visit.

While most people can resume indoor office work within a week, we request patients to avoid getting water into their eyes for about 2 weeks and avoid lifting weights or doing strenuous activity for about a.

If you have cataracts in both eyes, surgery typically is performed on one eye, and then at least a week later it's performed on the second eye.

This approach allows the first eye to recover and your vision in that eye to stabilize before surgery is performed on the fellow eye.

Cataract surgery does not typically cause dry eyes. However, patients with pre-existing dry eye may feel more uncomfortable after surgery.

Only two very small incisions are made in the cornea during the procedure. These incisions heal quickly after surgery without stitches and do not significantly affect how many tears your eyes produce.

For this reason, during your eye exam and consultation prior to cataract surgery, your eye doctor or surgeon will evaluate the tear film on your eyes. If it appears you have dry eyes, your cataract surgery might be delayed until you undergo dry eye treatment to restore a healthy tear layer on your eyes.

Minimal discomfort is typically experienced by our patients during surgery due to the use of a topical anesthetic to numb the eye.

In a minority of cases (perhaps 20 to 30 percent), months or years after cataract surgery, the posterior portion of the lens capsule that is left inside the eye during surgery for safety reasons becomes hazy and opaque, causing vision to again become blurred.

This "secondary cataract" (also called posterior capsular opacification) usually can be easily treated with a less invasive follow-up procedure called a YAG laser capsulotomy. In most cases, this 15-minute procedure effectively restores clear vision.

Surgery also reduces problems like glare, starbursts and halos around lights that develop as the cataract advances due to loss of contrast and scattering of light.

Your eye surgeon will be the best judge to decide whether you can undergo microincision phaco-surgery. Each patient undergoing cataract surgery at our centre is examined in detail to assess the endothelial count of the cornea using the automated Specular Microscope. Based on findings of the endothelial count by specular microscopy it may be necessary to alter certain medication used at the time of surgery. If the endothelial cell count is low we are using Viscoat to minimize loss of the already depleted endothelial cell counts during surgery.

Fortunately, the technological advances in IOL manufacture and surgery have made it quite safe. Complications are rare and similar ones can occur with conventional surgery without an IOL implantation.

In conventional phacoemulsification surgery, the surgeon makes the corneal incisions with a metallic blade, and manually creates an opening in the front of the lens capsule to gain access to the cataract, and then divides the cataract with a hand held ultrasonic probe.

In bladeless cataract surgery, the Femtosecond laser is used for these three critical steps of cataract surgery, i.e. to make the incisions- the cut on the cornea, the opening in the lens capsule, and to divide the lens into fragments. Thereafter, the lens fragments are removed by the surgeon using the ultrasonic probe.

No surgeon in the world can perform a surgery with guaranteed results. However, almost all the patients regain good vision following cataract surgery. In certain cases, eye disease or problems in the cornea, retina or optic nerve may limit the potential for clear vision even when the cataract surgery itself has been successful.

It is a platform where multiple innovations and advanced technologies come together to provide unparalleled precision and safety to further improve the outcomes of cataract surgery. It consists of the following components: 1) the VERION^TM Image Guided System, 2) the LenSx^® Femtosecond Laser System, 3) the LuxOR^TM LX3 operating microscope and, 4) the Centurion^® Vision System for phacoemulsification.

The VERION^TM Image Guided System captures a high resolution image of the patient’s eye which is transferred to the operating microscope. This image is superimposed on the surgeons view. It thereby provides automated incision positioning, guidance for making the opening in the lens capsule, as well as centration and alignment guidance for multifocal and toric IOLs.

The LenSx^® Femtosecond Laser System performs the laser assisted steps of cataract surgery and includes corneal incision(s), lens capsule opening (capsulotomy), and lens fragmentation as previously described. The precision and accuracy of these steps of cataract surgery has now been further improved upon by the VERION Image Guided System. The image of the patient’s eye captured by the VERION can be directly fed into the LenSx Femtosecond laser to bring about a significant level of precision, accuracy and predictability to bladeless laser assisted cataract surgery.

The LuxOR^TM LX3 operating microscope is a top-of-the-line surgical microscope with superior illumination and depth of focus. It allows the surgeon to safely and efficiently perform all steps of cataract surgery with great ease and comfort. It allows the patients eye image as captured by the VERION to be superimposed in the surgeons view, thereby guiding incision creation, capsulotomy and precise alignment of Toric IOLs and perfect centration of Multifocal IOLs.

The Centurion^® Vision System for phacoemulsification is a state-of-the-art machine for performing microincision cataract surgery. It has a unique mechanism called “Active Fluidics^TM” technology which detects and instantaneously responds to changes in intraocular pressure (eye pressure) during surgery. This system provides unparalled safety by creating a stable environment with a consistent eye pressure throughout cataract surgery.

Combining all these technologies provides multiple benefits to the patient. It translates to safer and more precise surgery, early visual recovery and less chances of dependence on glasses.

There are numerous benefits of cataract surgery, many of which cannot be measured statistically. These include: -

• Improved colour vision – colours are brighter and more vivid
• Greater clarity of vision – vision is crisper and sharper
• Improved quality of life – studies have repeatedly shown that people enjoy an improved quality of life after successful cataract surgery. Many people can resume driving, reading, writing,   watching television, sewing, household work and using a computer immediately after.

Even when retinal diseases or other problems prevent a total restoration of vision, the remaining vision is usually improved by cataract surgery.