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Is posterior capsule wrinkle after cataract surgery unusual?
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MedHelp Member's Question

Is posterior capsule wrinkle after cataract surgery unusual?

by Icanseenow, Feb 18, 2007 12:00AM
I had cataract surgery 4 days ago and am very happy with the results.  The doctor got the power exactly where I asked (0.25D to 0.5D myopic).  I am now 20/20 at 20 feet, best at 10 feet and can read the computer at 30 inches.  It does help to use 1.00D reading glasses for the computer.  The only problem is that there is a horizontal streak from bright lights, like individual light bulbs.  The surgeon said that this is caused by a wrinkle in the posterior capsule, which is caused by the pressure of the haptics.  I got the B&L SofPort AO IOL.  He said that it might go away, but probably not.  He said that it could be fixed by YAG laser if it is still there after 4 weeks and it bothers me.  My questions are:
-- Is this wrinkle an unusual occurrence?
-- Is the risk of the YAG laser treatment on the posterior capsule worth the removal of the streaks?
-- I believe that it is easier to do the YAG laser treatment whey the capsule is clear than when it might eventually cloud, so maybe it is not a bad thing to have it done now.  Comment?
Doctor's Answer

by Forum-OD-MP, Feb 19, 2007 12:00AM
1) no, i would not consider that a 'usual' occurrence.  bot does not sound dangerous

2) 2) little risk in yag IMO

Member Comments (17)

by aimee37, Feb 18, 2007 12:00AM
You stated you were very pleased with the outcome of your surgery except for that issue.  It can take longer than 4 weeks for the eye to completely recover from such invasive surgery.  Give this plenty of time and thought before you subject your eyes to any more sugeries.  As with any surgery, there are risks and YAG is no different when it comes to risks.  Discuss them with your surgeon and give yourself plenty of time to think it over afterwards.  Like your surgeon said there is a chance this may resolve on it's own.  Best of luck to you!!

by aimee37, Feb 18, 2007 12:00AM
To: icanseenow
I am 6 days post op cataract surgery. I,too, have horizontal lines of light from any light source. I kept hoping they would improve, but none so far. I plan to call my surgeon tomarrow. I had the surgery mainly because of night vision problems when driving-now that problem is worse. I'm wondering if I should have the other eye's cataract removed. I wanted so bad to be able to drive again at night. Can you drive at night now? Please let know any update. I'll keep you posted on what I learn from my Doctor.

by aimee37, Feb 18, 2007 12:00AM
To: lightbug
The horizontal streaks that I have are much less distracting than the large starbursts that I had with the cataract in the right eye.  The left eye starbursts were not as bad as the right and are still worse than the streaks.  The starbursts blocked all of my vision around the light, but the streak only blocks that narrow line.  I have not tried night driving yet.  These are just observations by looking at various bright lights at home, but I think that night driving will be much improved over what it was with the large starbursts.  I am still eagerly awaiting getting the cataract removed from my left eye because my VA is sooooo much better in my right eye now.

by aimee37, Feb 22, 2007 12:00AM
To: icanseenow
I saw the eye Dr. today. My diagnois was same as yours.He wants me to wait 90 days for the laser tx. Apparently it is somewhat rare. I felt the staff there, who did his pre-screen, just thought I was being an odd-ball until he confirmed to them that I do have a legitimate problem. So, he used my case as a teaching tool. My other eye is still set for Monday.

by aimee37, Feb 22, 2007 12:00AM
To: lightbug
I found this article this afternoon.  I haven't read it yet, but the second photo on the second page might be what my surgeon was talking about.
http://www.iovs.org/cgi/reprint/37/5/906.pdf
I saw my optometrist this morning and she didn't seem to know about this possibility.  She is young, but good.  Perhaps she has just not had time to see this.  My surgeon, with nearly 30 years of experience, recognized it right away.  Of course, he only does cataract surgery related stuff, so he sees a lot of results.  There are 5 doctors at the clinic and each has their own specialty.  He said he could do the YAG procedure in 4 weeks, but my optometrist also recommended to wait 3 months.  I will decide at the 4 week point what I will do.

by aimee37, Mar 04, 2007 12:00AM
I experiance the same problem with my surgery with the wrinkle.  I experimented and found that I could observe my own lense and capsule by looking at a diffused light (clear blue sky on a bright day) through a pinhole made in a piece of tinfoil.  Never look at a light souce directly!!!  A pinhole makes a perfect lense with near infinate depth of field.  The wirnkle will be at a right angle to the jets of light you see normaly.  Remember what you will see that is behind the pinhole will be flipped on the back of your eye.  You can also see any other distortions in you lense and capsule this way.  If you haven't had cateract surgery yet you can even see the shape of you cateract.

by aimee37, Mar 05, 2007 12:00AM
To: icanseenow
Have you had your other eyes cataract done yet? I had mine done one week ago today and am now seeing a light streak in that eye. It is not as long as the other eyes streak, but does cross the other eyes streak when I have both eyes open. I have an appointment with my Dr. tomarrow. I think he saw the fold on the appointment the day after this surgery (since he made my return appointment for one week and also told me the YAG could be done in the less than original 90 days he stated on the last visit). At this point I am really disappointed with my surgery because of the light distortion, especially at night. Do you know yet if you will have the YAG at 4 weeks?  

by aimee37, Mar 05, 2007 12:00AM
To: lightbug and sdduchman
I had my left eye done 5 days ago and I have the same streak in that eye as I did in the right eye.  The one in my right eye, however, is gone.  I have tested it with a very bright LED in the living room in the evening and with other bright indoor lights and there is no longer any sign of it.  It took about 2 weeks to disappear.  I hope the one in the left eye does the same.  On the first page of this forum and 3 posts below tipster42 has written about the same problem, along with a hyperopic condition.  His doctor just put him on Econopred Plus steroid to treat his inflammation.  I was put on E+ for 4 weeks right from the start.  E+, along with Pred Forte, are both 1% steroids and I think the strongest used after cataract surgery.  I also have a slight amount of starburst in both eyes now, but only about 1/8 the diameter as with the cataract.  I wonder is these various conditions are caused by post surgery inflammation and one of the stronger steroids are beneficial.  I will probably wait longer than 1 month to decide if YAG is necessary, especially since the streaks seems to be gone in the right eye.

On a side note, I tried that pinhole thing posted above by sdduchman and I think I can see what he is talking about.  I did not look at the sky, but at a sheet of white paper with the sun shining on it.  Looking through the pinhole, I could see a dim circular object in the center of the pinhole.  With the right eye, there was no pattern in the object.  Using the left eye, I saw 3 or 4 vertical streaks in the object, exactly 90 deg to the direction of the streaks.  I also saw 2 or 3 very small dark dots that move in the direction that I moved my eye.  I am assuming that these might the creases and the dots are some original lens particles remaining in the capsular bag.  I'm trying to figure out how that little trick works.

by aimee37, Mar 06, 2007 12:00AM
To: Icanseenow and lightbug

I had my right eye done on 1/8/2007 and the left eye on 1/17/2007.  I have a lazy eye so I couldn't realy even make out the big letter E on the chart with my left eye.  That was not expected to change and did not but I need the lense to be clear so I can detect motion on that side for safety sake.  I noticed the jets of light coming from light sources shortly after the surgery but thought it was normal and would go away.

Icanseenow,
Thank you for the lead on the artical "http://www.iovs.org/cgi/reprint/37/5/906.pdf".

I started try and figure out how I could see my own eye