AREDS2 finds no harmful effect of cataract surgery on risk of progression to advanced AMD

Findings from analyses of data collected in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2) provide no evidence that cataract surgery increases the risk of progression to late age-related macular degeneration (AMD), reported Emily Y. Chew, MD, at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

The research included data from 912 cases that underwent cataract surgery during AREDS2 and the same number of matched controls that did not have cataract surgery. Eyes selected had no late AMD at baseline, and for the cases, were eyes that did not develop late AMD prior to cataract surgery.

Cases and controls were compared for rates of development of any late AMD, neovascular AMD, central geographic atrophy, and any geographic atrophy using three different approaches for analysis (matched pair, Cox survival with time dependent covariates, and logistic regression using general estimating equations). No statistically significant difference was found between cases and controls in any of the analyses.  

“Understanding if cataract surgery affects the risk of progression to advanced AMD is important for us to move forward with our clinical recommendations for patients with AMD, and the data from AREDS2 are reassuring,” said Dr. Chew, Chair of AREDS2, and deputy director, Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Applications and Deputy Clinical Director, National Eye Institute, Bethesda, MD.

“Still, vigilant follow-up after cataract surgery is important because these patients remain at risk for developing late AMD, and increased vision improvement with anti-VEGF therapy for neovascular AMD makes it compelling for us to watch these patients very carefully.”