Abstract
Purpose:
To evaluate changes of intraocular pressure (IOP) and retrobulbar blood flow (RBF) parameters after routine cataract surgery in eyes with and without PEX.
Methods:
15 patients with PEX (age 73.4(6.1)) and 16 patients without PEX (age 73.4(7.0)) scheduled for cataract phacoemulsification were included in the prospective study. Patients were evaluated before surgery, 1, 6 months after surgery. IOP was measured with Goldman applanation tonometer. RBF was measured using Color Doppler imaging (Accuvix, Seoul, Korea) in the ophthalmic (AO), central retinal (CRA) and temporal short posterior ciliary (tSPCA) arteries, assessing peak-systolic (PSV), end-diastolic (EDV) velocities and calculated resistance index (RI). The level of significance was p<0.05.
Results:
Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) increased statistically significantly 1 month after surgery and results have not changed after 6 months in both groups (from 0.2(0.19) to 0.9(0.2) and 0.8(0.23) in PEX group and from 0.3(0.23) to 0.9(0.2) and 0.9(0.18) in non-PEX group, p<0.05).<br /> IOP decreased statistically significantly in both groups 1 month after cataract surgery (from 14.3(1.9) mmHg to 12.8(1.7) mmHg in PEX group and from 14.0(2.8) mmHg to 12.4(2.2) mmHg in non-PEX group, p<0.05). After 6 months IOP increased in both groups (to 13.5(2.5) mmHg in PEX group and to 13.8(2.9) mmHg in non-PEX group, p>0.05) but did not reach the pre-operative level.<br /> Tendency of decrease in RI and increase in PSV and EDV was seen in all evaluated arteries but statistically significant changes in both groups at both time points were observed just in tSPCA (p<0.05; t test). PEX group showed positive correlation between changes of IOP and tSPCA RI after 1 month (r=0.595, p=0.019; Pearson’s correlation).
Conclusions:
Cataract surgery resulted in a statistically significant decrease in IOP and increase in retrobulbar blood flow after 1 month and remained stable 6 months after surgery. These effects were more significant in PEX group compared to non-PEX group. Further studies are needed to evaluate impact of cataract surgery on IOP reduction and RBF improvement.