Incidence and characteristics of congenital cataract surgery in France from 2010 to 2012

Purpose Prevention of visual impairment due to congenital cataract is an international priority. Estimates of incidence are required for implementation and assessment of preventive strategies, but are lacking, despite routine monitoring of birth defects at a national level in many industrialized countries. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of congenital cataract in France between 2010 and 2012. Secondary objective was to assess the proportion of unilateral and bilateral cataract surgeries, age of surgery and implantation of intraocular lens or not. Methods All children who undergo cataract surgery before 1 year of age in France between January 2010 and December 2012 were identified using the french national database of information systems. Incidence rate per year was estimate using the French database from the national institut of statistics. Results In 3 years, 590 eyes in 464 children with 46.6 % of girls had a cataract surgery with 27.0 % of them having a bilateral surgery. In the first year of age, cataract surgery incidence was 1.87 / 10 000 birth in this period. Age (median [interquartile]) of surgery was 3.5 (2.2-4.8) months. Among the 590 operated eyes, 28% (168 eyes) were not implanted with intraoculair lens. Conclusion The incidence of congenital cataract in France is close to what was previously assessed in literature in industrialized world. Median age of surgery corresponds to recommendations. An important proportion of children was not primary implanted with an intraoculair lens.