Risk factors for the development of posterior subcapsular cataracts in patients with cystic fibrosis and allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis treated with corticosteroids.

Posterior subcapsular cataracts (PSCC) occur in a high percentage of patients treated with long-term systemic corticosteroids (Naumann Gott, Apple DJ, eds: Pathology of the Eye. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1986). Fifteen patients with cystic fibrosis treated at Duke University Medical Center between January 1982 and October 1987 required prednisone for treatment of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA). Two of these patients (13.3%) were noted to have PSCC during prednisone therapy. We retrospectively examined factors associated with steroid administration that may have been predictive of the development of PSCC in these patients including: 1) steroid therapy for longer than 2 years, 2) steroid dose of 10 mg/day or greater for longer than 6 months, 3) steroid dose of 40 mg/day or greater for longer than 2 months, and 4) change in linear growth pattern during steroid therapy. None of these factors predicted the risk of developing PSCC. Therefore, we recommend that all patients with cystic fibrosis who receive steroids for the treatment of a concomitant condition such as ABPA should undergo careful examination for opacities of the ocular lens at each clinical visit regardless of the duration or dose of steroids.