Cataract Removal and Alzheimer's Disease

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Cataracts, Alzheimer's Disease

In brief

Two very common aging-related diseases in older adults are Alzheimer's disease (AD) and cataracts. In elderly adults, these two diseases frequently occur in the same person. Although a cure for AD is currently unavailable, cataracts can be effectively treated with surgery in most people. The removal of cataracts has documented benefits for visual performance and for reducing accidents and falls. However, it has been the experience of the ophthalmologists, and others in the field, that patients, caregivers, and primary care doctors are reluctant to proceed with cataract surgery once an individual is given the diagnosis of AD. It is thought that cataract surgery will not improve the AD patient's quality of life, vision, and cognition. The investigators have designed this study to determine whether or not this is true.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT00921297

Run by

University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center

People needed

122

Starts

2009-06-01

Expected to finish

2017-03-30

Last updated by the study team

2017-11-09

Who can join

Age: 50 and older, up to 90. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• age 50 and older
• clinical diagnosis of possible/probable Alzheimer's disease, or other type of dementia, mild (CDR-1), moderate (CDR-2), or severe (CDR-3)
• at least 1 visually significant cataract
• no ocular pathology
• psychotropic drug must be with stable dosage for 30 days

You may not qualify if…

• history of cataract removal
• history of visually significant retinal, or optic nerve abnormalities
• informed consent cannot be obtained from either subject or their research partner
• subject shows evidence (in preoperative testing) of unstable cardiac or pulmonary function
• history of uncontrolled diabetes or hypertension
• history of stroke in areas known to affect cognition
• life expectancy of less than 1 year
• Down's Syndrome

Where it is running

• University Hospitals Case Medical Center — Cleveland, Ohio, United States
• MetroHealth Medical Center — Cleveland, Ohio, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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