Abstract
Purpose :
Although cataract removal using phacoemulsification is safe and nature, there is still a high incidence of complications after cataract surgery in diabetes. This study aims to compare retinal perfusion differences between diabetic and non-diabetic patients after cataract surgery by means of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).
Methods :
Fifty eyes with senile cataract were enrolled in both diabetic and non-diabetic groups. Among the former, patients only with no diabetic retinopathy or non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy were included in this prospective study. All patients underwent cataract surgery by the same experienced ophthalmologist. Avascular zone, retinal vessel density and thickness at the macular, parafoveal, and perifoveal area both in superficial and deep layers of retina were measured by OCTA at baseline and at 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after cataract surgery. Only the quality ratio of images more than 6/10 and no residual motion artifacts were saved and used for further analysis. T-test of two independent samples was used for comparison of data differences between two groups.
Results :
Thirty-one eyes of 31 selected diabetic patients and thirty-four eyes of 34 non-diabetic patients were consecutively enrolled in this study. The foveal avascular zone (FAZ) in diabetic group is smaller than another at 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month after cataract surgery (p＜0.01) measured by OCTA. The vessel density and retina thickness at macular area is higher than non-diabetic group at 1 day after cataract surgery in the diabetes patients(p＜0.05).
Conclusions :
Our study showed that there is an early and transient inflammatory response at retina after uncomplicated cataract surgery, also owing to the special physiological conditions of diabetic patients, this reaction may be more obvious and intense. Specifically reflected in increased blood flow and retina thickness at macular which may be correlated with the higher incidence of postoperative complications in diabetic patients.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.