Corneal Analysis before Cataract Surgery; Significance as the Clue for Unexplained Visual Complaint After Surgery
Abstract
Purpose
We analyzed the corneal optics before cataract surgery to evaluate whether the corneal abnormalities are correlated with the unexplained visual complaints after successful surgery.
Methods
Seventy-eight eyes of forty-seven patients who had undergone uncomplicated cataract surgery were enrolled in this retrospective study. The eyes were divided into group I which had visual complaint despite good visual acuity and group II without complaints after surgery. All included eyes had preoperative corneal data such as slit lamp bio-microscopy, automatic keratometer, corneal topography (Orbscan II, Bausch & Lomb, Germany), and aberrometer (KR-1W®, Topcon, Japan). We investigated whether there are any correlations between the corneal abnormalities and unexplained visual complaint by comparing the corneal parameters of two groups.
Results
The mean patient age was 67.9 years old. The mean preoperative topographic astigmatism in 78 eyes was 0.98 diopter (D); 19.23% of eyes had irregular astigmatism. Mean corneal spherical aberration measured by KR-1W was 0.31 ± 11.01 µm and corneal total higher order aberration (HOA) was 0.24 ± 0.17 µm. Total corneal HOA was correlated with irregularity index from topography. (P < 0.01, r = 0.548) No differences were shown between two groups in preoperative astigmatism. However, comparing the corneal parameters, irregularity index of 3 mm, 5 mm zone and corneal total HOA of group I were statistically significantly higher than those of group II respectively. (p < 0.05, respectively).
Conclusions
Unsatisfactory results associated with visual quality after cataract surgery might be originated from cornea irregularity and HOA. Evaluation of preoperative corneal optics is necessary to predict visual quality after surgery.
