Abstract
Purpose: :
To compare changes in corneal wavefront 4th order and total higher order aberrations (HOAs) after cataract surgery in patients with and without limbal relaxing incisions (LRI).
Methods: :
Patients undergoing cataract surgery without concomitant corneal disease were prospectively identified. Patients with greater than 1 diopter of astigmatism were enrolled in the LRI group using a standardized nomogram. Topography data from the pre-operative visit and 1 month post-operative visit were used to generate corneal 4th order and total HOAs.
Results: :
15 eyes were identified. 4th order aberrations in patients with LRI increased from 0.079 to 0.105 (P=.0016). 4th order aberrations in patients without LRI did not change significantly after cataract surgery (pre-op: 0.0741, 1 month: 0.0767, P=.7546). Total corneal HOAs in patients with LRI increased from 0.1749 pre-op to 0.2730 at 1 month, which was statistically significant (P=.0087). Total corneal HOAs in patients without LRI again were not found to change significantly following surgery ( pre-op: 0.2056, 1 month : 0.2043, P=.9577).
Keywords: cornea: clinical science • cataract • topography