Outcomes of cataract surgery in pseudoexfoliation syndrome in England: 10-year retrospective cohort study.

Purpose To investigate the outcomes of cataract surgery in eyes with pseudoexfoliation syndrome in a real-world National Health Service setting. Setting Prince Charles Eye Unit, Windsor, United Kingdom. Design Single-center retrospective cohort study. Methods All eyes that underwent phacoemulsification cataract surgery from January 2010 to December 2019 were included. Eyes with combined intraocular surgery or with a history of ocular trauma were excluded. Eyes were classified as pseudoexfoliation (n=280, 1.2%) or no pseudoexfoliation (n=23,049). The primary outcome was mean change in logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) visual acuity (VA). Secondary outcomes included intraoperative and postoperative complications. Results The study comprised 23329 eyes of 15257 patients. Eyes in the pseudoexfoliation group were older and more likely to have multiple co-pathologies. Intraoperatively, they were more likely to experience zonular dialysis and dropped nucleus. Postoperatively, they had significantly higher rates of corneal edema, elevated intraocular pressure, postoperative uveitis, and intraocular lens subluxation, and were more likely to require a second operation within 90 days. Although the pseudoexfoliation group had worse preoperative and postoperative logMAR VA, logistic regression analysis confirmed that mean VA improvement was comparable to the reference group (mean±SD -0.49±0.52 vs -0.55±0.66, adjusted MD 0.02 (95%CI -0.01-0.06)). Conclusion Although patients with pseudoexfoliation had a significantly higher risk of some complications, they achieved similar VA improvements with cataract surgery compared to the non-pseudoexfoliation group. These findings will help inform the consent process and management of patient expectations.