Party ‘til Your Eyes Burn

HOT TOPIC

Cataract Type and QOL After Surgery

A new study published in the Journal of Optometry evaluated the effect of cataract surgery on patient quality of life (QOL) based on cataract type. The study involved 210 patients with cataracts divided into three different groups based on their cataract type: nuclear (38.1%), cortical (33%), and posterior subcapsular (28.6%). The patients completed the Visual Function Index questionnaire before, 2 weeks, and 1 month after bilateral cataract surgery.

The study, which took place in Latvia, found that patients with cortical cataracts had the lowest questionnaire scores before cataract surgery, indicating that they were bothered most by their cataracts. It was these patients, overall, whose QOL improved the most, followed by patients with nuclear cataracts and those with posterior subcapsular cataracts. Postoperatively, patients with cortical cataracts experienced the greatest improvement in their near daily activities, while patients with posterior subcapsular cataracts experienced the greatest improvement in their far distance daily activities. Interestingly, patients with nuclear cataracts had the highest questionnaire scores before surgical intervention, meaning they were bothered the least by their cataracts.

The researchers explained that, “Before surgery, nuclear cataract patients were not as severely affected in their daily activities as cortical and posterior subcapsular cataract patients. Before surgery, patients with posterior subcapsular cataracts mostly complained about daily activities related to objections with reflections, such as traffic signs.” The researchers further stated, “The refraction of the lens before surgery (whether hyperopic or myopic) had a greater impact on daily tasks than the location of the opacity.”

My Two Cents

This was something I’ve wondered for quite some time. What type of cataracts seem to bother patients the most, and does removing one kind give better QOL improvement? It seems this study adds a piece to the puzzle in that cortical cataracts bother patients the most, and their removal tends to make our patients the happiest. Truth be told, I would have assumed that posterior subcapsular cataracts would have proven to be the winner based on my clinical experience, so this was a shock!

OUTSIDE THE LANE

It’s All Fun and Games Until You Burn Your Eyes

The ApeFest festival in Hong Kong is an annual festival for members of the “Bored Ape Yacht Club” who have invested in a collection of 10,000 nonfungible tokens (NFTs) of computer-generated profile pictures of cartoon apes. More than a dozen people who attended October’s ApeFest took to social media and other media outlets to complain that they had eye burn, extreme eye pain, and vision problems after attending the event, which was lit by UV lights.

One attendee, posting on X (formerly Twitter), wrote, “Woke up in the middle of the night after ApeFest with so much pain in my eyes that I had to go to the hospital…Doctor told me it was due to the UV from the stage lights.” Another attendee described this same severe eye burn upon waking and was diagnosed with photokeratitis in both eyes. It is hypothesized that this was caused by unprotected exposure of the cornea and conjunctival to UV radiation.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club replied on X that it was aware of the eye-related issues affecting some attendees of ApeFest and have been proactively trying to find the root causes. “Based on our estimates, we believe that much less than 1% of those attending and working the event had these symptoms.” About 2,2250 people are estimated to have attended the event, which featured dancing under intense UV lights.

My Two Cents

It sounds like these people were dancing in a tanning booth until late at night! Unfortunately, these attendees who were quick to invest in NFTs, which reports now state are essentially worthless, are also at the start of another potentially hyped fad of music that “melts your face off.”

CAN YOU RELATE

Whenever we have a new extern enter our clinic, it’s both a breath of fresh air and a little nerve-wracking. The student is nervous about the rotation site and the staff, while the doctor and staff want a competent student doctor who is easy to work with. This past week, Dhruvi, our newest extern at Wiliamson Eye Center, started. It looks like we struck gold, as she has already proven herself to be beyond impressive.

Much ado has been made about the new optometry schools opening up and whether the applicant pool has seen a reduced quality. Ever-lowering board scores and our profession’s doom-sayers are enough to make just about anyone question optometry, so it’s easy to jump to conclusions about what these new schools will do to our vocation. Admittedly, we don’t have any students from these newer schools; however, I can tell you just how impressive our externs have been. They’re socially capable and leaps and bounds more educated than I was at the same stage in my schooling (and I’m only 10 years out). We are primarily a NOVA-Southeastern rotation site, and I couldn’t be happier to have this affiliation (even as an MCO alumni!), as the externs we have had the pleasure to host will undoubtedly prove to be incredible assets to our profession. Kudos to the schools and colleges of optometry for all that you do—I’m sure you’re proud of the wonderful graduates you’re sending out into the workforce!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

— Henry Ford