Asteroid Hyalosis that Caused Decreased Vision after Cataract Surgery

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To report a patient with asteroid hyalosis, which induced reduction of the visual acuity after cataract surgery.CASE SUMMARY: A 79-year-old female with no ophthalmic history visited our clinic with decreased vision. Her best-corrected visual acuity in both eyes was 20/100 in the right eye and 20/60 in the left eye. She had senile cataract in both eyes, and asteroid hyalosis in the left eye. After cataract surgery, her visual acuity in the left eye decreased to finger count. There were no specific findings that could have caused the visual disturbance, except dense asteroid bodies on fundus examination. After removal of the asteroid bodies by vitrectomy, the best-corrected visual acuity of the left eye recovered to 20/20.CONCLUSIONS: In patients with asteroid hyalosis, it is possible that decreased vision may be affected by changes of asteroid body properties in the vitreous gel after cataract surgery. The vision should improve after vitreous surgery.