Senile eye cataract: medical and social aspects and the risk to public health

Abstract

A review of literature data on issues related to the prevalence of cataract among the population and the possibilities of its treatment is provided. In 2010, there were more than 10,8 million people worldwide who completely lost their vision due to cataracts, and partially lost more than 35,1 million people. Currently, the growth rate of senile cataract is two times faster than the growth rate of the total population, and in industrialized countries - five times. The problem of the wide spread and severity of injury in cataracts, along with the medical one, also has a medical and social character, which is why worldwide attention is paid to the study of etiopathogenesis and treatment options for cataracts among people of working age. To date, cataract treatment involves only surgical removal of a clouded lens with implantation of an intraocular lens. More than 20 million such operations are carried out annually in the world. With the development of medical science and technological progress, new, more advanced surgical techniques are being developed, such as ultrasound and femtolaser phacoemulsification, which allow performing operations in the early stages of the disease and achieving better results in terms of visual acuity, avoiding the development of induced astigmatism, and reducing the likelihood of complications, including macular edema. However, despite the improvement of surgical techniques for cataract phacoemulsification, cases of postoperative complications are not uncommon. Thus, despite the study of the etiopathogenesis of cataracts and the development of advanced modern methods for its surgical treatment, the risk of complications remains. At the same time, the problem of preventing the development of macular postoperative edema is one of the main reasons for the decrease in visual acuity in operated patients. To reduce intraoperative complications, it is necessary to take into account risk factors, their combination, as well as improve the methods of their drug prophylaxis and treatment.