Corneal power and axial length before and after cataract surgery

Session Details

Session Title: Biometry & Quality of Vision

Session Date/Time: Tuesday 25/09/2018 | 08:00-10:30

Paper Time: 08:36

Venue: Room A2

First Author: : G.Salerno ITALY

Co Author(s): :    I. De Pascale   F. Cione   A. Pepe   M. De Bernardo           

Abstract Details

Purpose:

To evaluate changes, cataract surgery related, in axial length (AL) and corneal power (Km)

Setting:

University Eye Clinic, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry, University of Salerno

Methods:

158 eyes of 79 patients that underwent unilateral cataract surgery were analyzed with an IOLMaster, before and at least 2 months after surgery. The differences in Km and AL were evaluated in the operated eyes and the fellow eyes were used as control.

Results:

AL differences in the operated eyes with pseudophakic and aphakic option ranged from -0.24 mm to -0.03 mm (mean =-0.13 mm ±0.04) (p<0.01) and from -0.13 mm to +0.08 mm (mean =-0.02 mm ±0.04) (p= 0.0006) respectively. In the non-operated eyes these differences ranged from -0.04 mm to+0.06 mm (mean= 0.01 mm ±0.02) (P=0.02). Km showed non-significant differences in the operated (mean =0.01±0.31 D, range from -1.02 D to 0.98 D) (p=0.82) and in the control eyes (mean = 0 D ±0.21, range from -0.6 D to 0.7 D) (P=0.89).

Conclusions:

Three hypotheses could explain the AL decrease in the operated eyes: 1) Flattening of the anterior chamber due to Km reduction, but the finding of unchanged Km, make this hypothesis less likely. 2) Decrease in the eye volume induced by lens extraction, with subsequent AL decrease. 3) Incorrect speed estimation in pseudophakic eyes, despite the change in AL measurement modality from phakic to pseudophakic. In the second hypothesis, the AL decrease should be taken into account in the IOL power calculation. In the third hypothesis, the use the aphakic option instead of the pseudophakic one is suggested.

Financial Disclosure:

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