Trends in cataract surgery and intraocular lenses in the United States.

Cataracts are the second leading cause of blindness in the United States. The rate of cataract surgery has greatly increased in the past several years, in part because of the extensive use of intraocular lenses for aphakic correction. It is estimated that more than 600,000 cataract operations were done in 1982. During a similar period, an estimated 496,000 intraocular lenses were implanted. Thus, more than 70% of all cataract operations in the United States involved intraocular lens implantation. Although iris fixation lenses accounted for 52% of all intraocular lenses implanted in 1978, during the six-month period from July 1982 through January 1983 57% of all implanted intraocular lenses were posterior chamber lenses and 40% were anterior chamber lenses.