Senile cataract; serum lipids a modifiable risk factor

ABSTRACT

To estimate the serum lipid profile of patients having different types of senile cataract and compare them with that of the controls. Observational case control study. Tertiary care centre in the city of Lahore, Pakistan. Six months. We selected fifty patients with senile cataract and fifty control individuals from tertiary care hospital of Lahore. History, ophthalmic and systemic examinations were done. Fasting serum samples were taken for estimation of lipid profile from all the subjects. In the patient group, female to male ratio was 1.631. 78% patients had Nuclear cataract, 16% had cortical and 6% had posterior sub capsular type of senile cataract. Serum Triglycerides, Cholesterol, LDL, HDL and VLDL of patients were compared with controls. The p-value of cholesterol, LDL and HDL was non-significant. The p-value of triglycerides and VLDL was significant. Serum Triglycerides and VLDL are modifiable risk factors in the development of senile cataract in Pakistani patients. Serum Triglycerides is the only lipid, which has shown consistent results related to cataract development in different parts of the world. Other lipids show variable results in different countries