"vitreous loss: incidence and complications in extracapsular cataract extractions "

one of the dangerous complications of cataract extractions is vitreous loss. the purpose of this stuy is to evaluate the incidence of vitreous loss and its sepuale while teaching residents at rasoul akram hospital in iran. this study has been conducted on existing records of 730 eyes which were subjectd to extracapsular cataract extractions by 3rd and 4th year, right handed resident of rasoul akram hospital. the information was taken from the records of patients who had vitreous loss during cataract surgery and the following data was extracted. the presence of any systemic diseases, phase of operation where vitreous loss occurred, vision on the next day, one month and 3 months later, the cause of low vision and any post operative sequale of the eye were evaluated. extracted data collected and the prevalence of vitreous loss and its sequale were indentified and presented. forty-nine eyes (6.7%) had vitreous loss, thirty-one of them were in the left eye (63.3%) and eighteen of them were in the right eye (36.7%). regarding the stage of operation in which vitrous loss had occurred: twenty –eight eyes while nucleous delivery (57.7%) eighteen eyes during aspiration of cortical material (36.7%) and in three cases during iol implantation. five eyes had pseudoexfoliaton syndrome, four patients were diabetic and three had high myopia. post operational sequale of these 49 eyes were: thirty-five with transient corneal edema (71.4%). nine with misshaped pupils (18.9%), four with high astigmatism (8.1%), tow with cystoid macular edema (4%), two with retinal detachment (4%) and seven with cloudy vitreous. (14.3%). the incidence of vitreous loss is more than expected. more extensive research to evaluated the prognositc factors according to the eye (od/os) and the stage of the operation the leads to vitreous loss and to decrease its incidence is still needed.