Paediatric Cataract Extraction Utilizing the LenSx® Femtosecond Laser

Paediatric cataracts are a relatively common (1 to 15 per 10,000 children), but treatable worldwide morbidity [1]. Unfortunately, surgical intervention in children is often more difficult and associated with more complications than in adult patients. The surgical difficulty of Paediatric cataract extraction can be attributed to the increased elasticity of the lens capsule as well as decreased scleral rigidity [2-3]. The advantages of the femtosecond laser including improved capsulotomy, better lens centration, and decreased posterior subscapular cataract formation, play to all of the disadvantages of Paediatric cataract surgery [4-7]. There have only been five cases of Paediatric femtosecond laser assisted cataract extraction, yet none utilizing the LenSx® (Alcon, Inc, Fort Worth, Texas) [8-9]. We report a case of a nine year old girl with bilateral cortical cataracts successfully managed with femtosecond assisted cataract extraction.