Contrary to previous findings, a new study has claimed that age-related macular degeneration (AMD) does not progress faster among patients who have cataract surgery.

Published in this month’s Archives of Ophthalmology, researchers reported that the rate of progression from non-neovascular to neovascular AMD in a patient’s eye after cataract surgery was ‘similar’ to the progression observed in their cataract-free eye during the same period.

Scientists at New York’s Stony Brook University School of Medicine studied the eyes of 108 people with non-neovascular AMD who underwent pre-operative assessments for cataract surgery between 2000-2002.

Having confirmed that 86 of the 108 eyes had non-neovascular AMD prior to surgery, an assessment after surgery found that nine (12.7%) of the 71 eyes followed up had developed neovascular AMD.

The study’s authors commented: “There has been a long-standing controversy among clinicians as to whether cataract surgery is contraindicated in eyes with non-neovascular AMD. A major concern has been whether cataract surgery increases the risk of progression to neovascular AMD in eyes at risk of pregression, such as those with intermediate AMD.

“Our findings suggest that previous reports of the association or progression of non-neovascular AMD to advanced AMD after cataract surgery could be biased with the absence of immediate pre-operative and post-operative fluorescein angiography to rule out pre-existing neovascular AMD or geographic atrophy.”

They concluded: “Our findings do not support the hypothesis that cataract surgery accelerates the progression of AMD.”

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