Corneal Endothelial Cell Change after Small Incision Cataract Surgery

ABSTRACT

Recently phacoemulsification with about 3mm small incision and implantation of foldable silicone intraocular lens (IOL) has been widely used. We performed this study to determine the changes of central corneal endothelium with time after surgery and the effect of the surgical skill and age of patient on endothelial cell loss(ECL). We evaluated 198 patients(198 eyes). The patients was randomly divided into expert(E) and biginner(B) group. The non-contact specular microscopy was performed at preoperative and postoperative 1 week, 1 month, 2 months and 3 months and ECL(%) was calculated. Mean ECL of E group was lower than that of B group. The differencewas statistically significant in the patients younger than 60 years(p<0.05). In E group, mean ECL of postoperative 1 week was higher than that of 1 month. However, the mean ECL of B group at postoperative 1 week was lower than that of 1 month. It was statistically significant in patients younger than 60 years(p<0.05). The patients older than 60 years showed higher ECL than young group. It was statistically significant at postoperative 1 week and 3 months in E gorups(p<0.05). From these results, we conclude that the changes of central corneal endothelial cell count after small incision cataract surgery are different according to the skill of surgeon and the age of patient.