Clinical Characteristics of Cataract Patients with Pseudoexfoliation Syndrome at Jimma University Specialized Hospital, South West Ethiopia

BACKGROUND Pseudoexfoliation is the most common identifiable cause of secondary glaucoma and pseudoexfoliation patients have higher rates of intraoperative and postoperative complications of cataract surgery compared to those without the condition. Hence, the objective of this study was to assess the clinical characteristics of pseudoexfoliation syndrome among cataract patients examined at Jimma University Specialized Hospital, Southwest Ethiopia. METHODS A cross-sectional clinic based study was conducted from January-March 2009. A total of 402 subjects with cataract were examined for the presence of pseudoexfoliation material, type of cataract, intraocular pressure, glaucoma and other factors. The presence of any exfoliation material on the iris, pupil and lens capsule was examined. Data were computed using SPSS version 16.0. RESULTS Out of the 402 patients examined, 144(35.82%) of them had presenile and senile cataract with pseudoexfoliation and out of these 144 cases, 48(33%) were unilateral and 96(66.7%) were bilateral. Furthermore, 41(28.5%) cases had raised intraocular pressure, of which 2(4.9%) cases had chronic angle closure glaucoma and 39(95.1%) of the cases had open angle pseudoexfoliative glaucoma. There was also lens sublaxation in 10(6.9%) of the cases and dislocation in 6(4.2%) of the cases. The prevalence of PEX was higher (41%) in the age group of 70 years and above followed by 60-69 years (27.8%). CONCLUSION A significant number of patients with PEX had poor zonular integrity and high IOP and/or glaucoma. Population based studies are recommended to assess its prevalence in the general population and its association with cataract and glaucoma.