Restoration of binocular vision.

Numerous studies have shown that pseudophakic surgery is a better (because it is a more natural) method of restoring binocularity than contact lenses or aphakic spectacles provided that the potential for binocular vision was present before the onset of the cataract(s). However, this restoration is achieved more easily in some groups of patients than others. Unilateral: Excellent prognosis for binocularity is retained for many years--even 50-60 years--in adult unilateral traumatic cataract/aphakia. At the other extreme are patients born with one normal eye and the other containing a well-marked cataract. In unilateral traumatic cataract/aphakia in children the potential for restoration of binocularity is related to age--the older the child, the better the chances. To achieve binocularity central vision must not fall below 20/70 in each eye. Bilateral: There is not much to choose between pseudophakia and contact lenses; both are effective in restoring binocularity, and both are superior in this respect to cataract spectacles of keratophakia.