The Impact Of Changes In Posterior Corneal Aberrations After Cataract Surgery

Abstract

 

Purpose:

 

To study the impact of changes in posterior corneal aberrations after cataract surgery.

 

Methods:

 

This retrospective study comprised 43 eyes of 29 patients (mean age 68.9 years) who underwent phacoemulsification and an IOL implantation through a 2.2 mm superior corneal incision. Anterior, posterior and total corneal wavefront aberrations were measured using Pentacam (Oculus, Germany) for 6.0 mm diameter settings pre- and postoperatively. Changes in corneal aberrations after surgery were evaluated for individual Zernike terms and the root-mean-squares of 3rd, 4th, and total (from 3rd to 6th) higher order aberrations (S3, S4, and THOA). The ratios of changes in the posterior corneal aberration to those in the anterior corneal aberrations were also calculated.

 

Results:

 

The pre- and postoperative total corneal aberrations were shown in Table 1. Changes in corneal aberrations and the ratios of changes in the anterior corneal aberration to the posterior corneal aberrations were shown in Table 2. There were significant changes in several Zernike terms of anterior and posterior cornea (data not shown). There were also significant changes in the oblique astigmatism, vertical astigmatism, vertical coma and THOA of total cornea. The absolute ratios of changes for the posterior corneal aberration / the anterior corneal aberrations were below 0.25.

 

Conclusions:

 

Cataract surgery with a 2.2 mm superior incision induced consistent and significant changes in several total corneal Zernike terms. The changes in posterior corneal aberrations in relation to the anterior corneal aberrations appear to be small in most of the Zernike terms.  

 

 

Keywords: aberrations • topography • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: outcomes/complications