Perfil inflamatorio del humor acuoso tras tratamiento asistido por láser de femtosegundo en casos de catarata nuclear

Abstract

Objective: Femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery (FLACS) is a treatment with increasing popularity. However, inflammation generated by the laser remains a subject of research. This study aimed to measure key inflammatory markers in the aqueous humor of patients diagnosed with purely nuclear cataracts after femtosecond-laser (FL) exposure. Method: We performed a study of 67 eyes of 67 patients diagnosed with nuclear cataracts (lens opacity classification system III NO3) undergoing phacoemulsification. Of these, 34 eyes underwent FL to build incisions, capsulotomy, and nuclear fracture and 33 had standard phacoemulsification (PE) cataract surgery. At the beginning of the surgery, we collected aqueous humor samples under sterile conditions through a side-port incision. Samples were collected 8 min after laser treatment. We measured prostaglandin E2 (PgE2) by competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, interleukins (IL)-1β, and IL-6, through cytometric bead arrays. We performed stratified and covariate-adjusted analyses in SAS v.9.4. Results: There was a statistically significant increase of PgE2 (adjusted mean difference: 3.24, standard error [SE] 1.57, p = 0.0001) and IL-6 (adjusted mean difference: 3.40, SE 0.37, p = 0.0001) in the FLACS group compared to conventional PE. There was no significant difference in IL-1β levels between groups. Also, there was no correlation between IL-6 and PgE2 grouped (p > 0.10) or stratified by groups (p > 0.10). Conclusion: FL-exposed cases have a significant increase in IL-6 and PgE2 during the first steps of the surgical approach. The clinical implications of these elevations on visual outcomes warrant future study.

Keywords

• Refractive surgical procedures. Cataract extraction. Prostaglandins E. Interleukin-1β. Interleukin-6.