Abstract
Purpose :
Intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction following phacoemulsification in glaucomatous and non-glaucomatous eyes is a well-known occurrence. Prior studies show associations between post-operative (post-op) IOP reduction and pre-operative (pre-op) ocular variables, but the relationship between IOP reduction and systemic health factors is unknown. We performed a retrospective cohort study to test the hypothesis that both ocular and systemic variables are associated with IOP change in non-glaucomatous eyes following phacoemulsification.
Methods :
Pre-op demographic, systemic and ocular data (Table 1) were extracted from the electronic health records for 3,518 eyes from 2,522 patients that underwent cataract surgery at the West Virginia University Eye Institute between Jan 2017 and Dec 2020. Post-op IOP measurements were extracted up to 2 years post-op. Eyes with the following were excluded: 1) glaucoma diagnosis, 2) history of glaucoma procedure, 3) history of ocular procedure influencing IOP during the follow-up period. The association between pre-op variables and post-op IOP change at each time point was analyzed using a multivariable linear mixed-effects (LME) model treating laterality as nested within subjects for patients contributing both eyes.
Results :
The pre-op characteristics for the 1,992 eyes from 1,755 patients included in our analysis are shown in Table 1. The mean pre-op IOP was 15.6 ± 3.2 mm Hg and the mean post-op IOP at 1 year was 14.6 ± 3.1 mm Hg. The results of the LME model to assess the relationship between pre-op variables on IOP change following phacoemulsification are shown in Table 2. Pre-op IOP was found to have a significant negative influence on IOP change following cataract surgery (e.g., higher pre-op IOP was a predictor of post-op IOP reduction), while a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (DM), longer axial length and higher body mass index (BMI) had a positive influence.
Conclusions :
Similar to prior studies, pre-op IOP was found to be a major predictor of IOP reduction in non-glaucomatous eyes after cataract surgery. Both ocular and systemic variables, particularly BMI and the presence of DM, were significant predictors of IOP change following phacoemulsification.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.