The Effect of Lens Extraction on Hyaluronic Acid Concentration in Rabbit Vitreous

ABSTRACT

The cataract extraction is sometimes followed by postoperative complications related to changes in the vitreous. The lack of stability of vitreous in the aphakic eyes may be due not only to loss of the mechanical support of the lens but also to changes in the vitreous molecular composition. To define the effect of lens extraction on hyaluronic acid concentration in rabbit vitreous, six cases of rabbit eye were operated with ECCE and posterior capsulotomy equivalent to ICCE. In control rabbit group, hyaluronic acid concentration in vitreous was 202.3 +/- 77.8 ug/ml and the seventy days after surgical intervention, hyaluronic acid concentration in vitreous was 79.0 +/- 55.7 ug/ml. These result indicated that ECCE and posteror capsulotomy induced marked decrease of hyaluronic acid concentration in rabbit vitreous, which is statistically significant(p<0.05).