Is it safe to laser a cataract (secondary) after having surgery for a hole in the macula?
FEB 21, 2014
Question:
Is it safe to laser a cataract (secondary) after having surgery for a hole in the macula? It has been six years since the hole was repaired.
Answer:
A secondary cataract is a clouding of a thin membrane behind your implanted intraocular lens. It occurs in a very high number of cases over time. It is important to leave this membrane intact at the time of cataract surgery to prevent complications. If the membrane becomes cloudy, it is easily and safely opened with a YAG laser. This procedure is very safe, simple, painless, and easy. In a very rare number of cases the YAG laser treatment can lead to certain retinal problems. If your vision is significantly reduced by the cloudy membrane, it would be wise to have your ophthalmologist treat your eye with the YAG laser. Since six years have elapsed since your macular hole was treated, I think it would be very unlikely that this procedure would produce any exacerbation of that problem.