SUMMARY A prospective study was carried out to estimate the incidence and severity of ptosis following cataract extraction and trabeculectomy. A postoperative ptosis of 2 mm or more was found in 6*2% of all cases. In this series the incidence of ptosis following surgery under local anaesthesia was greater than that under general anaesthesia. The aetiology and management of this complication are discussed.

The eyes of sixty one patients with Alport's syndrome or its variant, and of 25 unaffected relatives, were examined. Details of ocular signs associated with Alport's syndrome are presented and related to renal prognosis and family history.

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Visual acuity and displacement threshold hyperacuity were measured in a group of patients awaiting cataract extraction, and this was repeated several weeks subsequent to surgery. In addition, measurements were made on a group of patients with various ocular pathologies but without the presence of cataract. Displacement thresholds in the cataract group increased only slightly with the severity of the opacity. On the other hand, displacement thresholds for the pathology group showed a marked dependence upon visual acuity--the worse the acuity, the higher the threshold. This results in a clear distinction between vision loss due to optical factors (cataract) and retinal/neural factors. There was a good correlation between pre- and post-operative displacement thresholds in the cataract group, with post-operative thresholds being slightly better than pre-operative thresholds. The results suggest that this technique may offer patients a good indication of the likely quality of vision achieved following cataract extraction.