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This review summarizes data collected by the Swedish National Cataract Register (NCR), which by the end of 2022 contained data on more than 2.6 million cataract surgeries between 1992-2022. During these 31 years, the cataract surgery rate (CSR) rose from 3 700 to 14 407. The coverage of NCR is very high, including 93% of all cataract procedures in Sweden during the last decade. A clear trend is that the procedure is performed in eyes with increasingly high visual acuity. The proportion of patients with Snellen 0.5 or worse in the first eye at surgery has decreased from 88% in 2007 to 69% in 2022. Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROM) have been registered with the Catquest-9SF questionnaire since 2008, demonstrating stable favorable outcomes. Surgical complications have decreased; endophthalmitis has decreased from 0.10% to below 0.02%, and posterior capsule rupture from 2.8% to 0.6%.

The present review summarizes data collected by the Swedish National Cataract Register (NCR), which by the end of 2021 contained data for more than 2.4 million cataract surgeries between 1992 and 2021. During these 30 years, the cataract surgery rate rose from 3700 to 12 800. The coverage of NCR is very high including 93% of all cataract procedures in Sweden between 2010 and 2021. Independently of demographic changes, the proportion of operations of patients age 60 to 79 has increased while the proportion of 80 to 90+ has decreased. The median visual acuity of the first eye planned for surgery was 0.1 decimal in 1992 and has increased to 0.5 decimal in 2021. Patient-reported outcome measures have been registered with the Catquest-9SF questionnaire since 2008, demonstrating intervention at an earlier stage, but consistently favorable outcomes. Surgical complications have decreased; endophthalmitis has decreased from 0.10% to below 0.02%, and posterior capsule rupture from 2.8% to 0.6%., (Copyright © 2023 Published by Wolters Kluwer on behalf of ASCRS and ESCRS.)

Purpose: To report the longitudinal visual functional outcome after cataract surgery over 20 years., Setting: Eye clinic, Norrlands University Hospital, Sweden., Design: Prospective population-based cohort study., Methods: One hundred fourteen patients (86% of survivors) who had cataract surgery during a 1-year period (1997 to 1998) answered the same Visual Function Index-14 questionnaire (VF-14) preoperatively, 2 to 4 months postoperatively, and at 5, 10, 15, and 20 years after surgery. Most patients (100 [88%] of 114; 75% of survivors) also had a routine ocular examination, including corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA)., Results: The mean age of the114 patients in the study was 60.6 years (range 36 to 80 years) at the time of surgery. Twenty years after surgery, the median CDVA in the operated eye had deteriorated from Snellen acuity 20/20 (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution [logMAR] 0.0) postoperatively to 20/23 (logMAR 0.07) (P = .001). Patients aged 70 years or older at surgery had the largest loss of CDVA at 20 years compared with younger patients. At 20 years, 63 (55%) of the 114 patients had no deterioration in subjective visual function and most patients (82 [72%]) had 10 points decline or less. Patients who were older at surgery had a more pronounced decline in VF-14 total score over 20 years (P = .002). Fifty-six (58%) of 96 patients had never been treated for posterior capsule opacification., Conclusions: This prospective 20-year follow-up study provided estimates of longitudinal visual results. Cataract surgery also offered excellent long-term visual rehabilitation for the majority, especially younger patients, after 20 years, with a low requirement for Nd:YAG laser capsulotomy. The results in this study are of value for counseling younger patients with cataract and patients considering refractive lens surgery., (Copyright © 2019 ASCRS and ESCRS. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This study was undertaken to analyze sleep development in a group of patients during the first 9 months after cataract extraction. Men and women (n=407) undergoing cataract surgery at the Department of Ophthalmology, Sundsvall Hospital during two periods in 2000-2002 were asked to complete a questionnaire on the state and change of sleep and sleepiness 1 and 9 months after the operation. The response rate was 90.8%. The mean ages of the participating men and women were 74.5 and 75.6 years, respectively. One week after cataract extraction the visual acuity in the treated eye was 0.67 (+/-0.31) in men and 0.69 (+/-0.28) in women (NS), and showed an inverse relationship to age in both men (P<0.01) and women (P<0.0001). One month after cataract extraction 28.3% of the men and 37.5% of the women experienced poor sleep, and after 9 months the figures were 15.8 and 31.4%, respectively. Frequent awakenings and difficulty in falling asleep after nocturnal awakenings improved correspondingly. Being well rested in the morning increased and daytime sleepiness decreased. The results indicate that in elderly persons with cataract sleep is improved 1 month after cataract extraction and further improvement during the first 9 months may be experienced.

The Swedish National Cataract Register (NCR) has been collecting data on cataract extractions in Sweden since 1992. This unique national database now contains data pertaining to more than 400 000 operations, representing 93.4% of all operations performed nationwide during 1992-2000. Clinic participation in the NCR is voluntary. Tests have shown NCR data to be extremely reliable, while the participation of nearly all providers of cataract surgery in Sweden makes the data highly representative of cataract surgery throughout the country. The NCR collects pre- and per-operative data for every cataract extraction performed at participating clinics. Surgical outcome data and data about patients' self-assessed visual function is collected in approximately 10% of cases. Since 1998, all cases of suspected postoperative endophthalmitis have also been reported to the NCR. The rate of surgery has increased from 4.47 to 7.26 per 1000 inhabitants during the period. Female subjects have constituted about 66% of all operated subjects each year and the mean age of patients has slowly increased from 75.2 to 76.1 years. Average pre-operative visual acuity has improved each year. Second eye surgery has increased from 28.5% to 36.8% of all surgeries. Phacoemulsification has reached 98% as type of surgery (in 2000) and 92.7% of all intraocular lenses are foldable. Surgical outcome has improved by achieving a final refraction closer to the target refraction and less surgically induced astigmatism. The positive impact of cataract surgery in very elderly people has been demonstrated, as has the positive effect of second eye surgery, especially in young subjects. The NCR has served to enhance knowledge about trends and results of cataract surgery in Sweden. This review article describes some of the activities carried out and their results.