Abstract
AIM: Evaluation of potential side effects of photon radiotherapy on the transparency of the lens. METHODS: The anterior segments of 14 phakic eyes from patients suffering from subfoveal neovascularisation as a result of age related macular degeneration (AMD) were documented by Scheimpflug photography (Topcon SL-45, Kodak Tmax 400) before the start of radiotherapy as well as 6 and 12 months afterwards. All negatives were evaluated by microdensitometry, and peak heights for distinct layers of the lens were used for statistical comparison. External beam radiotherapy (6 MeV photons) consisted of a total dose of 20 Gy, delivered as 10 fractions of 2 Gy. RESULTS: Six and 12 months following irradiation statistical comparison of the ratios in density change of lenses from irradiated versus non-irradiated fellow eyes revealed statistically significant (p