Prevalence of pseudoexfoliation in diabetic patients with senile cataract: A hospital-based study in Kashmir, India

PURPOSE: To study the prevalence of pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PEX) in diabetics with senile cataracts and compare it to the prevalence in nondiabetic control group. METHODS: Two hundred and fifty diabetics and 250 nondiabetics (age and sex matched) were evaluated for PEX deposition. RESULTS: Chi-squared test was employed, and a P value < 0.05 was considered significant. In the PEX group, most patients belonged to the age group of 60–70 years (55.17%). Out of 18 patients with PEX, 11 (61.1%) showed bilaterality. There was a higher frequency of raised intraocular pressure (IOP; >20 mmHg) in PEX eyes (10.3%) than in the non-PEX eyes (5.9%). The PEX group had a higher number of eyes with cup-to-disc ratio (CDR) >0.6 (11.12%) than the non-PEX group (4.32%). Nuclear cataracts were more frequent in PEX eyes than non-PEX eyes, whereas PSC and mature cataracts were more prevalent in the non-PEX group. Most eyes had PEX deposition on the anterior lens capsule and pupillary margin. Of the 500 study eyes corresponding to the diabetic group, 418 had cataracts (rest pseudophakic), of which 28 had pseudoexfoliation, accounting for 6.7% of the total. In the nondiabetic control group comprising 500 eyes, 430 had senile cataracts (rest pseudophakic), of which 105 had PEX deposition, accounting for 24.4% of the total. CONCLUSION: According to our findings, diabetics have a lower prevalence of PEX than nondiabetics. Few such studies have been conducted so far, and none have been conducted in the Indian population.