This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Cataract surgery yields minimal damage in eyes with low endothelial cell density

J Cataract Refract Surg. 2011;37(8):1419-1425.

Add topic to email alerts

Receive an email when new articles are posted on

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on .

Subscribe

Added to email alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

Back to Healio

We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.

Back to Healio

Cataract surgery in eyes with low endothelial cell density resulted in an acceptable level of endothelial cell damage, a study found.

“Corneal endothelial damage after cataract surgery in eyes with low [endothelial cell density] was slight and comparable to that in healthy eyes, which suggests that cataract surgery alone (without corneal transplantation) should be performed first,” the study authors said.

The case control study included 100 eyes of 100 patients. The study group comprised 50 eyes with low endothelial cell density (500 cells/mm² to 1,000 cells/mm²). A control group included 50 eyes with normal endothelial cell density (more than 2,300 cells/mm²).

Mean patient age was 68.9 years in the low endothelial cell density group and 68.3 years in the normal endothelial cell density group.

Endothelial cell density and central corneal thickness were measured preoperatively and at 1 and 3 months after surgery. The percentage of cell loss and increase in CCT were compared between groups.

Study results showed that mean endothelial cell density was statistically significantly lower in the low-density group than in the control group at all follow-up points (P < .0001). There were no statistically significant between-group differences in mean percentage of endothelial cell loss at 1 month or 3 months.

The low-density group had significantly greater CCT than the control group at all follow-up times (P = .0066). The low-density group had a greater increase in CCT than the control group at 1 month postop (P < .0001). However, results showed no significant between-group difference at 3 months, the authors reported.