Cataract Surgery Outcomes in Retinitis Pigmentosa A Comparative Clinical Database Study

center dot PURPOSE: To report visual acuity (VA) outcomes, intraoperative and postoperative complications of isolated cataract surgery in eyes with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), compared with non -RP -affected eyes. center dot DESIGN: Retrospective clinical cohort study. center dot METHODS: A total of 113,389 eyes underwent cataract surgery between July 2003 and March 2015 at 8 clinical sites in the United Kingdom. Eyes with RP as the only comorbid pathology and eyes without any ocular comorbidities (controls) undergoing cataract surgery were compared. VA at 4 to 12 weeks postoperatively and rates of intraoperative and postoperative complications are reported. center dot RESULTS: Seventy-two eyes had RP. The mean age in the RP group was 57 +/- 15 compared to 75 +/- 10 in controls ( P < .001). Females represented 46% of RP cases and 60% of controls ( P = .06). Preoperative VA (mean LogMAR = 1.03 vs 0.59, P < .001) and postoperative VA (0.71 vs 0.14, P < .001) were worse in RP group. The mean VA gain was 0.25 +/- 0.60 LogMAR in RP vs 0.43 +/- 0.48 LogMAR in controls ( P < .001). There were no significant differences in the rate of intraoperative pupil expansion use, posterior capsular tears, or zonular dialysis. Postoperative cystoid macular edema developed in 6.9% of RP eyes and 1% of controls ( P < .001). The need for IOL repositioning or exchange was not statistically different between the two groups. center dot CONCLUSION: Cataract surgery can improve vision in eyes with RP and cataract. Intraoperative complications were similar to control eyes; however, RP eyes experienced more frequent postoperative cystoid macular edema. (Am J Ophthalmol 2024;262: 3439. (c) 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ))