Hello,

Have just had cataract surgery in one eye.
Wow, what an improvement.

Surgeon says to expect, as nearly all cataract surgeries have it
happen, the  formation of a secondary cataract behind the lens.  Said
that it happens so often to just about everyone, it's considered
normal.

Might be a few months after surgery, or years, but "likely".

Apparently a laser is used to correct, and no big deal.

Questions:

a.  Does it really happen in most cataract surgeries ?  If so, how
long after ?

b.  Why ?

c. What, exactly, does the laser do.  A little booklet I was given
says that it punctures a hole in the posterior capsule.  A hole ? Is
it usually just one spot, or several ?

If anyone might explain all of this to me, would be most appreciative.

Thanks,
Bob

The posterior capsule is useful _during_ the surgery - if your normal
vitreous gel spills through the pupil into the front of the eye and touches
the inner cornea, it is toxic.

After surgery, the implant remains as another barrier, so the posterior
capsule is unnecessary.

"After-cataract" operations (posterior capsulotomy) simply break through the
capsule with a laser and it sorta pulls open, irising away out of the line
of sight. It's a simple office procedure, just a few minutes.

-MT

In article

Might as well expect it.  That way if it doesn't happen, you can be
pleasantly surprised.  More importantly, if you have problems seeing,
you'll have an idea what is wrong and what needs to be done.  I had both
eyes done, a few years apart.  The opacification happened pretty much a
year later, for both.

I don't know.  Mike answered this, though.  They leave the capsule in
for several good reasons, so this is just the best way to handle it.

Yup, it punches a hole through the back, where the vision is being
disturbed.  Takes about two minutes, and requires no prep or followup.

If you don't get enough here, ask your surgeon.  If you just had the
cataract surgery, you should have several followup appointments.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA

Hi Bob,

Like you I thought that the clear vision I got from cataract surgery
was great.  I even had the curiosity to obtain my own Snellen (visual
acuity) chart and begin checking both my visual acuity (about 20/25 to
20/18) on a regular basis.  I even checked and confirmed my refractive
state, using the classical trial lens kit. I wanted to see how
accurate this operation actually was by objective testing.  They were
spot-on as each eye was measured at +3/4 diopters.

I could work on my larger computer screen (about 28 inches) and could
get along with no glasses at all -- except for reading at 22 inches.

But after doing all this checking, and after about one year, I noticed
that I could no longer read the 20/50 line, and no lens would clear
the line for me.

I contacted the surgeon who did the first operation, and had it fixed
with a laser.  The other eye has not changed at all, and I now have
20/20 in both eyes.

I think they don't want to do un-necessary surgery, so that is why
they wait for it to  develop.

In a number of people, it probably does not develop at all.

You'll probably want to ignore Otis Brown ("Science_Research").

Around here (and other forums), he's widely considered to be an
idiot ;-)