Macular edema after uncomplicated cataract surgery: a role for phacoemulsification energy and vitreoretinal interface status?

Abstract

PURPOSE:

To study postoperative macular thickness fluctuations measured by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and to investigate a potential correlation among macular edema (ME) incidence, cumulative dissipated energy (CDE) released during phacoemulsification, and vitreoretinal interface status.

METHODS:

This is a prospective, cross-sectional study of 106 cataract patients with no macular disorder who underwent phacoemulsification. Best-corrected visual acuity measurement, slit-lamp examination, OCT scans were performed preoperatively and 30 and 90 days postoperatively. The intraoperative parameters measured were CDE and total phacoemulsification time. The SD-OCT parameters assessed were central subfield thickness (CST), cube average thickness (CAT), cube macular volume, vitreoretinal interface status, and presence of cystoid or diffuse ME.

RESULTS:

Four patients (3.8%) developed subclinical ME. Regarding ME, there was no significant difference between patients with presence or absence of posterior vitreous detachment (chi-square, p = 0.57), although 75% of ME cases were observed in patients with attached posterior vitreous. With regard to comparison between eyes with and without subclinical CME incidence, CDE (p = 0.05), phacoemulsification time (p = 0.001), CST at month 1 (p = 0.002), cube macular volume at month 1 (p = 0.039), and CAT at month 1 (p = 0.050) were significantly higher in the subclinical CME group.

CONCLUSIONS:

This study provides evidence that OCT macular thickness parameters increase significantly at first and third month postoperatively and that the incidence of pseudophakic ME can be affected by CDE.

• Authors: Konstantinos Anastasilakis, Anna Mourgela, Chrysanthos Symeonidis, Stavros A Dimitrakos, Panayiotis Ekonomidis, Ioannis Tsinopoulos
• Journal: European journal of ophthalmology (Eur J Ophthalmol) 2015 May-Jun Vol. 25 Issue 3 Pg. 192-7 ISSN: 1724-6016 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 25449642 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Cross-Sectional Studies
• Female
• Humans
• Incidence
• Lens Implantation, Intraocular
• Macular Edema (etiology)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Phacoemulsification (adverse effects)
• Prospective Studies
• Tomography, Optical Coherence (methods)
• Visual Acuity