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Cataract is a common eye disease and the leading cause of visual impairment across the world (48% of cases).
A cataract is clouding of the lens. The lens is a natural structure located inside the eye behind the iris (the coloured part of the eye). The lens is crucial for sight and also for visual accommodation, i.e. the ability to switch between near and far focus.
The commonest cause of cataracts is age and therefore ageing, but cataracts can also result from eye injury (post-traumatic cataract), a pre-existing eye disorder (pigmentary retinopathy, previous eye surgery, etc.), medical treatment (corticoids, orbital radiotherapy, etc.), or chronic illnesses such as diabetes. In children, cataract can also be congenital.
A number of factors increase the risk of developing cataracts, including smoking, excessive alcohol consumption and exposure to sunlight (ultraviolet rays).
Symptoms of cataract are various.
The only option to treat cataract is surgical treatment.
Sources:
(1) Ameli, Le traitement de la cataracte [online]. Available at: www.ameli.fr/marne/assure/sante/themes/cataracte/traitement
(2) Ameli, Comprendre la cataracte [online]. Available at: www.ameli.fr/assure/sante/themes/cataracte/comprendre-cataracte.
(3) French National Health Authority, appropriate care indications and contraindications for age-related cataract surgery [online]. Available at: www.has-sante.fr/jcms/c_2906983/fr/fiche-pertinence-des-soins-indications-et-contre-indications-de-la-chirurgie-de-la-cataracte-liee-a-l-age.
(4) Bérengère Deforge, Gilles Duluc, Julie Garnon, François Mourey, Mihail Ott, « Le parcours “patient debout” - L’expérience de l’hôpital Saint-Louis », Gestions hospitalières, No. 574, March 2018.
(5) French National Health Authority, Conditions for performing cataract surgery: technical environment – Technical assessment report, July 2010 [online]. Available at: www.has-sante.fr/jcms/c_992026/fr/conditions-de-realisation-de-la-chirurgie-de-la-cataracte-environnement-technique-rapport-d-evaluation.
(6) ANAP, Premier Cercle SD - Bloc opératoire « Concilier qualité de prise en charge et efficience » - Mettre en œuvre la démarche « patient debout » au bloc opératoire [online]. Available at: http://bloc-operatoire.anap.fr/publication/2138.
(7) Jennifer Marie-Louise, Ramin Tadayoni, « Ophtalmologie : des progrès notables, des espoirs thérapeutiques, à quel coût ? », La Revue du Praticien Médecine Générale, Volume 67, no. 10, December 2017, pp. 1097-1106.
(8) Clémence Bonnet, Antoine Brezin, « Cataracte, quand opérer ? », La Revue du Praticien Médecine Générale, Volume 32, no. 1000, March 2018, pp. 326-327.
