Visual outcomes following cataract surgery in age-related macular degeneration patients

Abstract Objective To evaluate visual acuity (VA) outcomes, prognostic factors, and changes in disease severity in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) undergoing cataract surgery. Design Retrospective cohort study Participants Patients with AMD or healthy control patients who underwent cataract surgery between 2012 and 2017. Methods Eyes were categorized into 3 AMD groups—intermediate AMD (iAMD), fovea-involving geographic atrophy (GA), neovascular AMD (nAMD)—and 3 preoperative VA-matched control groups (iAMDc), fovea-involving geographic atrophy control (GAc), neovaascular AMD control (nAMDc). Results We compared 216 iAMD, 35 GA, and 184 nAMD eyes with 130, 31, and 129 controls. At postoperative month 12 (POM12), VA increased significantly in iAMD and nAMD (+10.1 ± 14.5 and +9.7 ± 18.9 letters, p Conclusions Cataract surgery improves VA for patients with iAMD and nAMD, albeit not to the level of those without retinal pathology. Preoperative VA, AMD duration, and optical coherence tomography parameters may be important prognostic factors for cataract surgery in patients with AMD.