Retinal detachment after congenital cataract surgery.

Those born with congenital cataracts tend to develop retinal detachments, irrespective of whether or not cataract surgery is undertaken (Malbran and Dodds, i964), although the patient may reach middle age before the retina separates (Shapland, I962). The prospects of curing such detachments are generally regarded as poor (McDonald, I957), and since the literature is devoid of any series giving figures, this report presents the results of retinal detachment surgery in 34 eyes of 25 patients who developed retinal detachments subsequent to earlier surgery for congenital cataract.