Cataract

By far most commonly, a cataract occurs at an advanced age (senile cataract) and is, as a rule, not a disease but rather a "normal" change; the rare congenital cataract or the one acquired at an early age can, nevertheless, be the consequence of a different chronical eye- or general disease (secondary cataract) and must be clarified. Injuries of the eye can also cause a cataract.

Cataract with spontaneous lens luxation.

A cataract does not cause any pain. Its characteristic manifestation is the opacification of the natural lens, which leads to a decrease of visual acuity. Initial symptoms can be an increased glare sensitivity or an increasing myopia (near-sightedness); this has the result that elderly people do not need their reading classes any longer but are able again to see clearly in the near without glasses before the visual acuity is deteriorating all in all. At an advanced age, the cataract often develops slowly and imperceptibly over many months, but it may also – especially in younger patients – increase rapidly within a few weeks.

The indication for the cataract operation is given when the cataract has advanced so far that the subsequent visual deterioration causes severe subjective impairment or that – as a consequence – other disturbances of the eye function threaten or have already occured.