The Correlation between early corneal swelling and corneal endothelial cell loss after phacoemulsification

Objective:To evaluate postoperative corneal swelling as a predictor of corneal endothelial cell loss after phacoemulsification cataract surgery.Methods:This study included 428 eyes which were performed routine phacoemulsification surgery.Ultrasonic pachymetry and endothelial photography of the central of the cornea and Orbscan II slit-scan tomography were performed preoperatively,on the the first day after surgery and three months after surgery.SPSS 13.0 was used for statistical calculations.Independent-Samples t test and repeated measures were used to test differences and a backward stepwise multiple regression analysis were performed to indentify the variables independently contributing to the corneal endothelial cell loss.Results:The ratio of endothelia cell loss 3 months after phacoemulsification cataract surgery was 18.34 ± 11.63% from 1.56% to 59.30% in this study.It was closely related to phaco time,nuclear hardness and corneal pachymetry chang to first day after surgery.Conclusion:In this study,the degree of permanent corneal endothelial damage had significant correlation with the degree of early postoperative corneal swelling.Measuring the difference in phachymetry at postoperative first day is a useful way to assess the effects on the corneal endothelium exerted by the phacoemulsification procedure.