Cataract morphology
By Konrad Pesudovs and David B Elliott
Contents
Abstract Introduction Cataract morphology Cortical cataracts Nuclear cataracts Posterior subcapsular cataract Clinical cataract classification schema Assessment of vision in the cataract patient Deciding on the need for surgery Acknowledgments
Abstract
Cataract is the most common condition requiring assessment and referral from optometric practice. This article examines the features of the main morphological types of age-related cataract: nuclear cortical and posterior subcapsular. The steps to take in the assessment and management of cataract patients are discussed including: examination for cataract, visual assessment methods to confirm whether vision loss is present, discussion with the patient to establish if visual disability is present, and establishing criteria for referral. Keywords Cataract, disability, morphology, referral vision.
Introduction
Cataract is a frequent condition found in patients attending an optometric practice and, given the demographic changes within the population, their numbers will increase in the coming years. This article discusses the optometric assessment and management of age-related cataract. The scope includes the categorisation of cataract morphology, the assessment of vision, the assessment of visual disability, and how to determine when to refer a patient for surgery.
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Document revised 28 Sep 06
Cataract morphology
Cataract increases substantially with age. Cataract causing a visual acuity (VA) of worse than 6/9 has a prevalence of approximately 5% in the 55-64 age group and over 40% in the over 75s1. There are three main types of age-related cataract: cortical, nuclear and posterior subcapsular. In the UK, cortical cataract is the most prevalent (63%), followed by nuclear (41%) and posterior subcapsular cataract (24%)2. Around 30% of eyes have mixed cataract, i.e. more than one morphological type.
Cortical cataracts
Cortical cataracts are cuneiform or wedge shaped opacities found in the anterior and/or posterior lens cortex. The base of the wedge or spoke is in the periphery of the lens, so that the cataract is often hidden behind the iris. Cortical cataracts are most often found in the inferionasal part of the lens, which may implicate ultra-violet radiation involvement in their aetiology3. Cortical opacities are often associated with water clefts, which are optically clear wedges that can be seen with slit-lamp biomicroscopy. This association gives a clue as to the pathology of cortical cataract, which is fundamentally due to water imbibition into the lens leading to disruption of the regular order of lens fibres4. The disrupted, displaced and swollen lens fibres dissolve and precipitation of components leads to an opaque suspension within the lens. These structural changes create light scattering centres with a considerable variation in refractive index. Opacification is due to the scattering of light when it meets irregular interfaces between regions of differing refractive index. The visibility of cortical cataracts at the slit-lamp results from gross backscatter (i.e. towards the observing clinician), however, forward scatter (i.e. towards the retina) also occurs and this is responsible for the degradation of vision. It is important to note that backscatter and forward scatter are not necessarily highly correlated5, thus a cortical spoke which is highly visible at the slit-lamp may not necessarily be causing a decrease in the patients vision. In addition, vision is only affected if the cortical spokes enter the pupillary area. Cortical cataracts can cause astigmatic changes and monocular diplopia (Table 1). Table 1. Cortical cataract clinical pearls Cortical cataract Prevalence (UK) Description Risk factors
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~63% of all cataracts (including mixed cataract) Wedge-shaped opacity in the lens cortex with the base in the lens periphery, see Figure 1a. Age, ultra-violet light, female gender Page 2 of 9
Possible astigmatic changes. Monocular diplopia, sometimes asymptomatic despite obvious cataract on slit-lamp examination.
Tints for disability glare No, patients with these cataracts see worse with a (vision loss with glare) larger pupil
Nuclear cataracts
Nuclear cataract presents as a homogeneous increase in light scatter and absorption in the lens nucleus (Figure 1B), and can be associated with increased yellowing or brunescence of the lens. Vision loss is due to both light scatter and absorption. The pathology of the opacity is fundamentally an increase in molecular size through a cross-linking of proteins within and between cells in the lens nucleus6. This change results in an increase in optical density (and a decrease in transparency) by large molecules that absorb light and cause some light scatter. The increased yellowing and brunescence of some nuclear cataracts is indicative of wavelength-dependent light absorption by lens proteins. Nuclear cataracts can produce a marked myopic shift2, which is known as index myopia. Indeed a -0.50DS shift over two years in an elderly patient is highly indicative of developing nuclear cataract2. The average shift over 4 years is -1.50DS, giving a rate between -0.25 and -0.50DS per year. Obviously some shifts can be much larger than this. Large myopic shifts can become the basis for referral (Table 2).
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Table 2. Nuclear cataract clinical pearls Prevalence (UK) Description Risk factors ~41% of all cataracts (including mixed cataract) Homogeneous increase in light scatter in lens nucleus. Blue wavelength absorption also leads to increased yellowing, see Figure 1b. Age, smoking, low levels of anti-oxidant vitamins.
Refractive changes Myopic shift Idiosyncratic symptoms/signs Tints for blue disability glare (vision loss with glare) Colour vision changes (blue-yellow confusion) These patients already have a built-in blue disability absorbing tint
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Table 3. Posterior subcapsular cataract clinical pearls Prevalence (UK) Description Risk factors Refractive changes Idiosyncratic symptoms/signs ~24% of all cataracts (including mixed cataract) Circular opacities in the centre of the pupil just in front of the posterior capsule, see figure 1c. Age, smoking, diabetes, steroid use, trauma None reported Can be very visually debilitating, especially under glare, near VA worse than distance VA, can be difficult to spot with direct ophthalmoscopy, occur in younger age groups.
Tints for disability glare Yes, patients with small, central PSC see disability (vision loss with glare) better with a larger pupil.
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colour (NC) nuclear opalescence (NO) cortical opacity (C) PSC (P) (Figure 2). Nuclear opalescence and colour are rated on a decimal scale from 0 to 7 in steps of 0.1 and cortical and PSC are rated on a decimal scale from 0 to 6. This is a thoroughly validated system which has been used extensively for clinical trials29-32. Alternatively, cataracts can be classified and approximately graded without these systems. The conventional 0 to 4 grading system can be used, where 0 is a clear lens, + or 1+ represents a mild cataract, ++ or 2+ a moderate cataract, +++ or 3+ a marked cataract and ++++ or 4+ a severe cataract. Alternatively, PSC and cortical cataract can be graded by the percentage of the (dilated or otherwise) pupillary area they occupy or by a brief sketch.
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It is well established that some patients with cataract, who retain good VA, have significant visual problems. In these cases contrast sensitivity and glare testing can be used to evaluate the level of disability.
Contrast Sensitivity
Contrast sensitivity at low to intermediate spatial frequencies can be reduced in patients with cataract when VA is good34,35. In these cases cataract surgery can return contrast sensitivity to age-matched normal values35. Additionally, in cataract patients, contrast sensitivity can be a better indicator of various aspects of real world vision than VA, such as driving, orientation, mobility and face expression recognition35-37. The best available test for use in cataract patients is the Pelli-Robson chart (Figure 3). At the recommended working distance of 1m, the letters are equivalent to 6/273 Snellen, and the chart gives an indication of contrast sensitivity at a spatial frequency of approximately 0.5 to 2 c/deg (just below the peak of the contrast sensitivity curve). In many cataract patients, Pelli-Robson contrast sensitivity will be normal (1.50 log contrast sensitivity or above). Any patient with a log contrast sensitivity of 1.35 or below, is likely to be complaining of poor vision, no matter how good the VA is. Poor contrast sensitivity is more likely with nuclear and PSC cataracts38-42.
Glare testing
Increased forward light scatter causes cataract patients to see poorly in bright light or glare conditions. Consider the effect of a dirty windscreen on your vision when driving. Vision is satisfactory until sunlight or light coming from car headlights hits the screen, when vision can be reduced dramatically. Similarly, with some cataract patients, VA can be adequate in the relatively low illumination conditions of the examination room, but considerably reduced when outdoors or when driving at night (Panel 1). Panel 1. Typical PSC and glare case report52. A healthy 45-year-old prison guard complained of a gradual decrease in vision over the previous year. This decrease only occurred in bright sunlight, such as when guarding prisoners working outside. Before his visit, his loss of vision had been so great as to allow two convicts to escape! His VA was measured to be 6/6 in both eyes in the examination room. However, VA measured in bright light levels was 6/120! Slit-lamp examination with a dilated pupil revealed small PSC cataracts. The case history in (see Panel 1) highlights that a patient attending for an examination in the UK in the winter with no symptoms and a VA of 6/9 or
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better, could have profoundly reduced vision in a sunny environment Any suggestion of small PSC cataracts should immediately indicate glare testing and pupillary dilation with a careful slit-lamp examination. Glare tests measure the reduction in a patient's vision due to a glare source (glare loss), and indicate the effect on vision of increased light scatter and a smaller pupil. Glare test scores have been shown to correlate with VA measured outdoors and to correlate better with glare symptoms than conventionally measured VA in patients with cataract43,44. Simple methods of measuring disability glare involve measuring VA under glare conditions, such as while directing a bright penlight or ophthalmoscope light into the patient's eye45. Due to the inverse square law and light scatter varying as a function of the square of the glare angle (the angle of the glare source to the visual axis), it is very important to standardise the angle and distance of the penlight to the eye. Typical standards are 10cm and 30 degrees. A more standardised version of such tests is the Brightness Acuity Tester. Disability glare scores are usually taken as the level of VA under the glare condition. Alternatively, the impact of glare can be recorded as glare loss i.e. the number of lines on the chart lost when the glare source is introduced. Testing can be done using conventional VA, low contrast VA or contrast sensitivity charts.
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Acknowledgments
Konrad Pesudovs is supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Sir Neil Hamilton Fairley Research Fellowship. Konrad Pesudovs BScOptom, PhD, MCOptom, FVCO, FAAO Bradford University and Flinders University (Australia) and David B Elliott PhD, MCOptom, FAAO Bradford University Correspondence: Dr. Konrad Pesudovs Department of Optometry University of Bradford Bradford West Yorkshire BD7 1DP, UK E-mail: K.Pesudovs@bradford.ac.uk You have reached the end of this text
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