Visual acuity after cataract surgery in Macular Telangiectasia Type 2 Stage 3 to 5

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate visual acuity after cataract surgery in eyes with Macular Telangiectasia (MacTel) Type 2. METHODS: Single-center retrospective cohort study of patients with MacTel Type 2 who underwent cataract surgery and were managed at the same institution. Patients underwent pre-operative assessment by a retinal specialist with examination and optical coherence tomography (OCT) at the same institution. The main outcome measure was the post-operative change in best corrected visual acuity (BCVA). Secondary study outcomes were achieving post-operative BCVA better than Snellen acuity of 20/40 and time to BCVA loss by two lines or more (10 or more ETDRS letters). RESULTS: A total of 20 eyes (11 patients) underwent cataract surgery and were followed for a median of 25.5 months (IQR 17.5–44.2 months). The median post-operative BCVA improvement was 10.5 letters (IQR 3.50–20.25). Nuclear sclerosis severity [β = 8.99 (95% CI 3.35, 14.6), p = 0.00177] was associated with post-operative change in BCVA and central foveal ellipsoid zone (EZ) breaks [OR 1.33 × 10(–9) (95% CI 5.12 × 10(–10)–3.43 × 10(−9)), p < 0.001] on OCT was inversely correlated with post-operative BCVA > 20/40 using a multivariate generalized linear model. Central foveal EZ breaks [HR 1.77 × 10(9) (95% CI 3.86 × 10(8), 8.11 × 10(9)), p < 0.001] and MacTel Type 2 disease stage [HR 2.83, (95% CI 1.12, 7.12), p = 0.027] were independently associated with shorter time to vision loss of two lines or more in a multivariate Cox regression model. CONCLUSIONS: Visual acuity significant improved after cataract surgery in eyes with MacTel Type 2 regardless of disease severity. The presence of central foveal EZ breaks may predict poorer post-operative visual acuity and subsequent vision loss from disease progression.