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Better endothelial cell count seen with dispersive vs. cohesive viscoelastic
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A dispersive hyaluronate viscoelastic used during cataract surgery preserved more endothelial cells than cohesive viscoelastics, according to a study.
Allan Storr-Paulsen, MD, of Frederiksberg University Hospital in Denmark, and colleagues compared three viscoelastics devices — Celoftal (hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, Alcon), Vitrax (sodium hyaluronate, Advanced Medical Optics) and Healon (sodium hyaluronate, AMO) — to gauge their effect on the corneal endothelium after in-the-bag phacoemulsification and IOL implantation. Surgeons used each device in 20 eyes of 20 patients.
At 3 months postop, the three groups showed equally significant improvements in visual acuity and significant decreases in cell counts. However, the decrease in cell count was significantly lower in the Vitrax group (6.97%) than in the Celoftal (18.03%) or Healon groups (18.46%), according to the study authors.
"Choosing a dispersive hyaluronate [ophthalmic viscoelastic device] during the phaco procedure may allow for protection of the endothelial cells while suppressing the formation of free radicals," the authors said. "This may be the reason for the superior protective effect on the corneal endothelial cells of Vitrax compared with Celoftal and Healon."
The study is published in the March issue of Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica.
Editor's note: Advanced medical Optics discontinued its Vitrax viscoelastic product line.