Predicting postoperative visual outcomes in cataract patients with maculopathy.

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To assess the accuracy of the potential acuity meter (PAM) in predicting postcataract surgery visual acuity outcome in patients with healed inactive maculopathies. Study Design: Prospective interventional clinical trial. Patients and Methods: Patients scheduled for phacoemulsification had preoperative and 1 month postoperative best‑corrected visual acuity (BCVA), PAM test, fluorescein angiography, and macular optical coherence tomography. Patients were grouped to following preoperative BCVA PRE1 0.29 and better, PRE2 0.25–0.13, and PRE3 0.1 or worse; age G1 <60, G2 = 60–70, and G3 >70 years. PAM accuracy was divided into Grade 1 Postoperative BCVA ≤1 or less line error of the PAM score, Grade 2 Between 1 and 2 lines error, and Grade 3 ≥3 lines or more error. Results: This study enrolled 57 patients with a mean age of 71.05 ± 6.78 years where 34 were females. There were 21 (36.84%) patients with diabetic maculopathy and 36 (63.16%) with age‑related macular degeneration. The mean preoperative BCVA was 0.198 ± 0.12 (0.1–0.5). The mean PAM score was 0.442 ± 0.24 (0.1–1.3). The mean postoperative BCVA was 0.4352 ± 0.19 (0.17–1.00). The PAM score was in Grade 1, 2, and 3 in 46 (80.7%), 54 (94.7%), and 56 (98.2), respectively. There was a highly significant correlation between the PAM score and the postoperative BCVA (P < 0.001, Chi‑square test). There was no correlation between the PAM test accuracy and age, gender, diagnosis, and preoperative BCVA (P = 0.661, 0.667, 0. 0.991, 0.833, Chi‑square test; respectively). Conclusion: The PAM is an accurate method of predicting postoperative visual acuity for eyes with nuclear cataracts Grade I and II and inactive maculopathies.