The extraction of the immature cataract

ABSTRACT

1. The classification of the senile cataract into immature and mature stages based on either an objective or subjective criterion will be found confusing and not reliable as a guide for surgical intervention2. The basis for the time of surgical intervention should be not so much the maturity or immaturity of the cataract, but more the degree of visual impairment of the better seeing eye, in relation to the particular work or temperament of the patient3. By the use of intracapsular extraction, and the aid of sutures and other safety devices of modern cataract surgery, the removal of the immature cataract is technically not more difficult, if not actually easier, than that of mature cataract4. In a series of 100 private and charity cases of cataract extraction, 25 cases were found to be immature, based arbitrarily on a middle ground classification of a visual acuity of counting fingers at one foot as the subjective criterion dividing the immature from the mature cataract. The results from these extractions compare favorably, if not better than, the mature cataracts of the series5. The Filipino physicians and ophthalmologists should get rid of the concept and practice of waiting for the cataract to become fully mature before extracting it. Because of the mental torture and the social and economic sacrifices which the period of waiting entails to the patient, the public should be mroe fully informed that it is unnecessary under modern methods to wait for a caratact to mature before it can be operated. (Conclusion)