Prevalence of Cataract due to Inhalational Corticosteroid in South Indian Population

Purpose: To evaluate the prevalence of steroid induced cataract in patients using inhalational steroid. To correlate the relation between the dose of inhalational steroid and the formation of cataract in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and bronchial asthma. Design: Prospective observational study at Sree Balaji medical college and hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Methods: All elderly patients aged 50 years and above who were diagnosed with COPD and bronchial asthma using inhalational steroid for more than 3 months were included. Patients who came to the department of pulmonology at our institute from January 2018 to January 2019 were screened for the development of cataract based on the daily dose of inhaled steroids. The dose of corticosteroids (fluticasone propionate) was divided into 3 categories as low (1–250 μg), medium (251–500 μg), and high (501– 1000 μg). Results: 100 patients using inhalational steroid were evaluated, of which 14 patients were identified with cataract with a prevalence of 14 %. We also observed a dose-response relationship with the highest prevalence of cataract (57.14 %) at daily doses of 501–1000 μg fluticasone propionate equivalents. Conclusion: Prevalence of steroid induced cataract was higher in patients using higher dose of inhalational steroid.