Assessment of tear production dynamics and morphometric parameters of cornea after phacoemulsification of senile cataract

Abstract

Purpose. To study the dynamics of tear production and morphometric parameters of cornea after phacoemulsification of senile cataract (SC) at different postoperative terms.Material and methods. 123 patients (123 eyes) aged from 62 to 83 years were examined after phacoemulsification of SC. All patients were divided into 2 groups depending upon the level of tear production (TP): 1st group – 61 patients with normal and insufficiently lowered TP, 2nd group consisted of 62 patients with moderate and severe TP suppression. Besides standard examination methods, all patients underwent Schirmer’s – 1 test, tear breakup time (TBUT), cornea OCT, corneal endothelial cell density (CECD) before operation and on the 1st, 10th , 20th and 30th postoperative day.Results. Indices of TBUT, corneal epithelium and stromal thickness (CET and CST), CECD turned out to be lower in the eyes of patients from the second group in comparison with the 1st.Conclusion. The conducted research showed that postoperative changes of CET occur 4 times and CST 1,5 times more often in patients with moderate and severe decrease of TP rather than in eyes with normal TP. The recovery of TP on the final stage of research was found 2.6 times less in eyes of patients from the 2nd group in comparison with the 1st, which can be the evidence of possible neurotrophic corneal disorders in patients with reduced TP.

Keywords

• senile cataract
• phacoemulsification
• tear production
• corneal epithelium thickness
• corneal stromal thickness