What is a “secondary cataract”?

In a minority of cases (perhaps 20 to 30 percent), months or years after cataract surgery, the posterior portion of the lens capsule that is left inside the eye during surgery for safety reasons becomes hazy and opaque, causing vision to again become blurred.

This “secondary cataract” (also called posterior capsular opacification) usually can be easily treated with a less invasive follow-up procedure called a YAG laser capsulotomy. In most cases, this 15-minute procedure effectively restores clear vision.

Surgery also reduces problems like glare, starbursts and halos around lights that develop as the cataract advances due to loss of contrast and scattering of light.