[Late results of cataract operation with and without lens implantation in patients with uveitis].

Between 1985 and 1993, 73 eyes of 56 uveitis patients were subjected to extracapsular (n = 64) or intracapsular (n = 9) cataract extraction. We investigated the results up to 6 years later. 53 eyes received a posterior chamber lens, one an anterior chamber lens. Preoperatively, 22 eyes showed signs of an inflammation in the anterior chamber. Nevertheless, we implanted posterior chamber lenses in 16 of them. In most cases posterior synechias made the lens extraction more difficult, but no complications occurred. Twenty-four eyes, 17 of them with a posterior chamber lens, showed a new uveitis during follow-up which was treated conservatively. The intraocular pressure was not well regulated during follow-up in 4 of 15 eyes with preoperatively known secondary glaucoma. Two more secondary glaucomas developed. The visual acuity was satisfactory, and late diminutions were not caused by the uveitis in most cases. No artificial lens had to be explanted.