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Is Cataract Surgery for Elderly Patients Appropriate?

Sun, 06/03/2001 - 11:00pm — Karen Stevenson
Description: 

With greater life expectancies and increasing demand for improved quality of life, the number of very elderly people receiving cataract surgery has been projected to grow substantially in the coming years. Tien Yin Wong of the National University of Singapore published a research in the British Medical Journal to provide an estimate of the impact of increasing age on the safety, benefits, and risks of cataract surgery. He makes several points:

Co-morbidity (the existance of other clinical conditions or diseases) is clearly a factor in both the success of the procedure and the likelihood of adverse reactions, and co-morbidity is much higher in the older population.

The presence of concomitant cardiovascular diseases results in higher risk of complications, and a substantial proportion of very elderly people will have concomitant cardiovascular diseases, with many of these diseases undiagnosed before cataract surgery.

Previous studies show that people with age related maculopathy, glaucoma, or diabetic retinopathy were twice as likely not to improve after cataract surgery, compared with those with none of these conditions.

The possibility that age may be used as factor by insurance companies or public benefit programs in determining whether surgery will be allowed and paid for is a sensitive and controversial topic, and it should be approached objectively and scientifically.

With greater life expectancies and increasing demand for improved quality of life, the number of very elderly people receiving cataract surgery has been projected to grow substantially in the coming years. Tien Yin Wong of the National University of Singapore published a research in the British Medical Journal to provide an estimate of the impact of increasing age on the safety, benefits, and risks of cataract surgery. He makes several points:

Co-morbidity (the existance of other clinical conditions or diseases) is clearly a factor in both the success of the procedure and the likelihood of adverse reactions, and co-morbidity is much higher in the older population.

The presence of concomitant cardiovascular diseases results in higher risk of complications, and a substantial proportion of very elderly people will have concomitant cardiovascular diseases, with many of these diseases undiagnosed before cataract surgery.

Previous studies show that people with age related maculopathy, glaucoma, or diabetic retinopathy were twice as likely not to improve after cataract surgery, compared with those with none of these conditions.

The possibility that age may be used as factor by insurance companies or public benefit programs in determining whether surgery will be allowed and paid for is a sensitive and controversial topic, and it should be approached objectively and scientifically.