The authors evaluated the association between plasma vitamin E content and progression of eye lens opacities. A total of 410 hypercholesterolemic eastern Finnish men participated in the study from January 1990 to September 1993 in Kuopio, Finland. Lens opacities were classified three times at 18-month intervals using the Lens Opacities Classification System II. A low plasma vitamin E level (lowest quartile) was associated with a 3.7-fold excess risk (95% confidence interval 1.2-11.8) of the progression of early cortical lens opacities compared with the highest quartile (p = 0.028). In addition, the number of cigarettes smoked daily was a significant predictor of the progression of cortical lens opacity (relative risk = 1.06 per cigarette, 95% confidence interval 1.003-1.12). The progression of nuclear lens opacities was not associated with either the plasma vitamin E content or smoking. The data suggest that low plasma vitamin E content may be associated with increased risk of the progression of early cortical lens opacity.

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the change in visual acuity and refraction taking place in eyes with progressing early lens opacities. Four hundred and ten hypercholesterolemic men in Eastern Finland who participated in the Kuopio Atherosclerosis Prevention Study were followed up for 3 years. Lens opacities were graded using the lens opacity classification system II (LOCS II). The change of visual acuity and refractive error from baseline to a 36-month examination was compared for different types of lens opacities. During the 3-year period, progression in the LOCS II was observed in 9.2% of the eyes for nuclear, in 4.8% for cortical and in 0.5% of the eyes for posterior subcapsular opacities. Increasing nuclear sclerosis reduced visual acuity statistically significantly both with and without correction. Hypermetropization was seen to continue in eyes with no lens opacity progression. Myopization was more common in eyes with lens opacity progression, although this was not statistically significant.

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The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the relationship of various types of early lens opacities with contrast sensitivity at different spatial frequencies. The Lens Opacities Classification System II and Lensmeter 701 were used in the grading of the lens status. The contrast sensitivity was tested with the Vistech VCTS 6500 distance test with optimal correction of refractive errors. Data from 995 eyes were available for the present study. Contrast sensitivity decreased by increasing lens opacification graded with the Lens Opacities Classification System II and also by increasing Lensmeter 701 reading. When the statistical model was adjusted for age and best corrected visual acuity, nuclear opacities and nuclear colour were not associated with decreased contrast sensitivity, however, there was a weak, but statistically significant correlation between contrast sensitivity reduction and cortical opacities at high spatial frequencies, and between contrast sensitivity and posterior subcapsular opacities at low and medium spatial frequencies.

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