I have a condition known as "asteroid hyalosis." Is any treatment recommended? Also, could this condition be the reason that I am very sensitive to light? Besides asteroid hyalosis, I have glaucoma and have had cataract surgery.

Jeanie

In asteroid hyalosis, tiny spheres or discs of calcium-laden fat, known as asteroids, accumulate in the vitreous gel of the back of the eye. Although these calcium deposits are visible to a doctor during an eye exam, they rarely interfere with a patient's vision because light usually passes through them unaffected. So, no treatment is necessary in most cases. Very infrequently, the asteroids may clump together, causing vision loss that can be restored by surgically removing the calcium deposits.

Neither asteroid hyalosis nor glaucoma are known to cause light sensitivity (photosensitivity). However, your problem may be related to inflammation related to your cataract surgery. If you happen to be one of the rare patients in which the surgeon had to place the plastic intraocular lens in the front part of your eye (the anterior chamber), there is a chance it may be rubbing on the iris and provoking inflammation within the eye.

A more common cause of eye inflammation after cataract surgery is a chronic, low-grade infection. Research has found that many patients with inflammation that lasts months after cataract surgery actually have an infection caused by a bacterium called P. acnes. Treatments include special antibiotics and possibly surgery to drain the bacterial infection, which generally localizes in the capsular bag.

A third cause of low-grade inflammation after cataract surgery is an immune reaction to one of the new "foldable" plastic lenses. Foldable plastic lenses are widely used in cataract surgery because they can fit into the eye through a tiny incision, and then unfold within the eye. Such lenses come in two varieties: acrylic and silicone. The silicone lenses occasionally can trigger an immune reaction that leads to mild, chronic eye inflammation. In such people, exchanging the silicone lens for an acrylic lens will sometimes reduce the inflammation. Please see your eye surgeon so that he can determine whether you have residual eye inflammation and, if so, whether the inflammation can be treated.