Long-term clinical course and visual outcome associated with Peters' anomaly.

PURPOSE: To investigate the long-term clinical course and visual outcomes of Peters' anomaly cases treated with various treatment modalities.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: All patients with Peters' anomaly treated at Seoul National University Children's Hospital from 1985 to 2005 were reviewed retrospectively. Patients who were followed for more than 5 years after the first visit were enrolled for analysis of the visual outcome. Final visual outcomes were presented with respect to disease severity and treatment modalities. Disease severity was determined according to the corneal status and accompanied eye anomalies in mild or severe form. Treatment plans were classified into the following groups: (1) a medical treatment group; (2) a surgical treatment group; and (3) a no-treatment group.

RESULTS: A total of 106 eyes in 76 patients were diagnosed as Peters' anomaly, and 90 eyes in 65 patients were analysed regarding the visual outcome. Overall, 60 eyes (67%) had severe disease, and 30 eyes (33%) had mild disease. Twenty-six eyes (29%) received medical treatment, 44 eyes (49%) received surgical treatment, and 20 eyes (22%) received no treatment. The mean final visual acuity was 1.415 logMAR, 2.344 logMAR, and 2.282 logMAR, respectively. The visual outcomes of the eyes with mild disease in each group were significantly better than the eyes with severe disease.

CONCLUSIONS: The long-term visual outcomes of Peters' anomaly differed according to the disease severity in each treatment group. Therefore, before making treatment plans for Peters' anomaly, it is important to investigate the corneal status and accompanying eye disease to determine disease severity.