Pseudoexfoliation syndrome and cataract surgery.

Pseudoexfoliation syndrome is a systemic age-related disease in which abnormal extracellular material is produced and accumulates in many ocular tissues. Its ocular manifestations involve all of the structures of the anterior segment as well as conjunctiva and orbital structures. The presence of pseudoexfoliation should alert the physicians to the increased risks associated during and after cataract surgery. Increasing awareness of this condition are important in the detection and preoperative determination of patients inclined to be at greater risk for complications during surgery. Data regarding the rate of complications during phacoemulsification suggest a lower complication rate than with exstracapsular extraction but still greater than in eyes without pseudoexfoliation. Despite the existence of a higher number of intraoperative and postoperative complications, experience with the phacoemulsification technique together with the improvement of the apparatus and instruments used enable similar results to obtained in eyes with pseudoexfoliation syndrome as in eyes without this pathology.