Glare testing in pseudophakes with posterior capsule opacification

We measured Snellen visual acuity under standard and glare conditions using the Allergan Humphrey 570 auto-refractor in 46 pseudophakes (46 eyes) undergoing Neo-dymium-YAG laser posterior capsulotomy before and after treatment. All the patients studied had a best corrected vision of at least 6/12 but complained of visual disability and had clinically observable posterior capsule opacification. The patients did not have other known causes of glare disability. Following posterior capsulotomy, 30 (65%) patients showed an improvement in standard Snellen visual acuity and 44 (97%) an improvement in Snellen visual acuity under glare conditions. This difference was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Of the 16 patients whose standard Snellen visual acuity did not improve after posterior capsulotomy, 14 showed a reduction in glare disability. Glare testing was clinically useful in evaluating pseudophakes with posterior capsule opacification who complained of visual disability in spite of good Snellen visual acuity under standard testing conditions.