5
Freeman, Cataract Surgery and Age-Related Macular Degeneration
for 141 people (123 eyes, 17%) because of inability to obtain medical records, no information in
records of cataract surgery date, or inability to reach the participant by phone.
Late AMD was defined for this study as the presence of signs of choroidal
neovascularization or geographic atrophy. Two definitions of early AMD were used--definition
1 was drusen of size >=64 microns, hyperpigmentation, or nongeographic atrophy in the central
macular zone, and early AMD definition 2 was drusen >=125 microns, hyperpigmentation, or
nongeographic atrophy in the central macular zone. Those who had late AMD were excluded
from early AMD analyses. Presence of severe cataract was defined as nuclear sclerosis grade 4
(highest grade), cortical opacification >=8/16, or any PSC opacification as graded by lens
photographs using the Wilmer grading scheme
14-15
.
Persons excluded from the analyses were those who did not have photographs taken due to
camera failure, inability to dilate the pupil, refusal of the participant, significant corneal opacity,
inability to maintain fixation, or photographs that were not of gradable quality for the specific
outcome under study. Out of 5,040 eyes, there were 4,641 eyes with gradable photographs for
late AMD, 4,022 for early AMD 1, and 4,489 for early AMD 2.
Study Population: Proyecto VER
Proyecto VER (PVER) is a population-based study of 4,774 Hispanic persons over age
40 years living in either Pima or Santa Cruz counties in Arizona. Of those subjects identified as
eligible, 4,774/6,668 people (72%) completed both the home questionnaire and clinical exam.
Further details about the sample and recruitment have been previously described
16
.
Observation Procedures
Data were collected on history of previous cataract surgery by clinical exam. Date of
cataract surgery was not collected. Individuals were identified in a clinical exam as having
choroidal neovascularization or geographic atrophy. In addition, data were collected on whether
