Classification of human senile cataractous change by the American Cooperative Cataract Research Group (CCRG) method: III. The association of nuclear color (sclerosis) with extent of cataract formation, age, and visual acuity.

Nineteen hundred and seventy-six immature human cataracts extracted intracapsularly were classified according to the Cooperative Cataract Research Group (CCRG) method of cataract classification. Data on cataract location and extent, nuclear color, preoperative visual acuity, age, and sex were organized and stored in the PROPHET system. The data were examined for relationships between nuclear color (sclerosis) and the age of the cataractous lens, the extent of opacification in seven anatomical regions including the degree of nuclear opacification and the preoperative visual acuity. Nuclear color correlates with age in a curvilinear manner. Nuclear yellowing increases gradually with increasing nuclear opacification, but the color change is so slight as to be useless for the purposes of inferring the intensity of nuclear opacification from the color of the nucleus. There is no association between the extent of anterior cortical, equatorial cortical, posterior cortical, subcapsular or supranuclear opacification, and nuclear color. Nuclear color impairs vision only for the range dark yellow through black. These data justify the recommendation that nuclear color be abandoned as the single index of the severity of any type of senile cataractous change.