Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: Currently two types of phacoemulsification incisions (the clear corneal incision and the scleral tunnel incision) have been used in the cataract surgeries. Difference may exist in the post-operative cornea and eyeball shape between the two operations. The purpose of this study is to test the difference in optical quality of the post-operative eyes between the two surgeries by measuring wavefront aberrations in the post-operative eyes. Method: Phacoemulsification (Alcon Legacy 2000) and IOL implantation (Alcon MA 30 BA) were performed either with corneal clear incision or with scleral tunnel incision for 20 consecutive cataract patients (10 patients in each operation group) aged from 55 to 76 yrs old (mean = 67 yrs old). Wavefront aberrations for the patients post-operatively at one week and three weeks were measured using an aberrometer (SuZhou BriteEye Model WFA 1000), from which wavefront error map and 35 terms of Zernike aberrations were provided. Three measurements were taken for each eye in each test condition, and RMS of overall wavefront error was calculated. Result: Mean RMS values of the post-operative wavefront aberrations at one week were significantly greater than those at three weeks for both operation groups (t=3.65, p<0.0025 for corneal incision group; t=7.28, p<0.0005 for scleral tunnel group). While the mean RMS values were not significantly different between the corneal incision group and scleral tunnel group at one week (t=0.55, p≷0.25), the mean RMS for corneal incision group was significantly great than that for scleral tunnel group at three weeks (t=2.78, p<0.01). Conclusion: There is a difference in optical quality of post-operative cataract eyes between corneal clear incision and scleral tunnel incision, and the corneal clear incision trends to induce more wavefront aberrations than the scleral tunnel incision.
Keywords: 338 cataract • 500 optical properties • 609 treatment outcomes of cataract surgery