Does radiotherapy for age related macular degeneration cause transient lens transparency changes?
Six months following radiotherapy for AMD, both the anterior capsuloepithelial region and the nuclear layers showed precataractous changes. As most of these significant differences had disappeared after 12 months, it is obvious that these findings reflect acute radiation damage to the lens epithelial cells and an ionising effect on the proteins of the lens nucleus. Long term studies will have to be carried out to demonstrate whether or not this acute radiation damage, which is expressed as a transient increase in light scattering of some layers of the lens, actually does lead to permanent transparency changes, thus reflecting radiation cataractogenesis, and if so, after what time interval and to what extent cataract occurs.
BCR for patients with CSM at RP is tantamount to PSM patients. CSM <1mm should be explicitly noted on pathology reports. Patients with this finding should be followed up closely and offered adjuvant therapy.