Materials and Methods: 122 eyes of 68 cases who attended at Kartal Dr. Lütfi Kirdar Training and Research Hospital between September 2006 and December 2007 were included in the study. The early opacity group included 80 eyes of 46 patients and the control group included 42 eyes of 22 cases.

Results: The study included 29 female and 39 male cases. The mean age was 60.85±6.15. The mean age of patients in early opacity group was 62.94±5.95 and the mean age of cases in control group was 56.52 ±2.85. The best corrected visual acuities were 0.80±0.13 and 0.99±0.02 respectively in early opacity and control groups. The log contrast sensitivity values in early opacity group for Cpd3, Cpd 6, Cpd 12, Cpd 18 frequencies were 1.49±0.21, 1.68±0.23, 1.33±0.28, 0.95±0.26 respectively and 1.77±0.15, 2.08±0.15, 1.84±0.13, 1.46±0.12 respectively in control group. When compared with control group, there were statistically significant reduction in the contrast sensitivity values for all spatial frequencies in early opacity group (p<0.001).

Conclusion: Early opacity of the lens reduces contrast sensitivity values in high spatial frequencies. The contrast sensititivity and glare tests give important information about the real visual performance of patients with early lens opacities. Keywords : Early lens opacities, contrast sensitivity