A retrospective study evaluated the association between intravitreal anti-VEGF injections and the risk of incident cataract surgery by analyzing the electronic medical records of 603 patients. At baseline, all patients had phakic lens status in both eyes and had received 12 or more unilateral intravitreal anti-VEGF injections. Over a median follow-up of 74 months, the 10-year cumulative incidence of cataract surgery was 40.7% in the injected eyes, compared with 7.2% in the untreated fellow eyes.
The injected eyes (HR, 8.174) and older age (HR, 1.069) were associated with an increased risk of cataract surgery. In addition, the injected eyes demonstrated significantly higher lens opacity grades, including nuclear, cortical, and posterior subcapsular opacities, with the most pronounced difference observed in posterior subcapsular opacity at the time of surgery. These findings suggest that…
