Modified low temp ophthalmic cautery for capsulorhexis

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To study the use of low temp ophthalmic cautery tip in performing continuous curvilinear capsulorhexis and the effect of heat produced by cautery on the corneal endothelium Materials and Methods: The tip of an ordinary low temp ophthalmic cautery was improvised with the use of stylet of a Simcoe I&A, fashioned like a Sinskey IOL manipulator. 20 rabbits were used in this experiment -10 right eyes served as cases and 10 left eyes as controls. In the experimental eyes, viscoelastic was injected prior to a 7mm capsulorhexis; in the control eyes, no capsulorhexis was done. The cornea of both experimental and control were removed in toto and submitted for histopathologic studies Results: A complete capsulorhexis was performed in all 10 experimental eyes. The anterior capsular flap adheres to the advancing cautery tip; continuous and circular capsulorhexis was observed. There was no significant difference observed between the experimental and control groups regarding endothelial cell loss Conclusion: The modified low temp ophthalmic cautery tip produced a complete capsulorhexis, with no effect on the corneal endothelium.