ESCRS - PO113 - The Significance Of Lens Thickness For The Occurrence Of Posterior Capsule Defects

The Significance Of Lens Thickness For The Occurrence Of Posterior Capsule Defects

Published 2022 - 40th Congress of the ESCRS

Reference: PO113 | Type: ESCRS 2022 - Posters | DOI: 10.82333/02sb-e420

Authors: Tschingis Arad* 1

1Ophthalmology,University Hospital Frankfurt,Frankfurt Main,Germany

Purpose

During extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE), the elastic lens capsule is left intact posteriorly as a space for intraocular lens (IOL) implantation. However, a posterior capsular defect may occur during the surgical procedure, requiring further surgical intervention. The purpose of this study is to investigate lens thickness at the occurrence of posterior capsular defects during cataract surgery.

Setting

Population-based study sample of patients treated at a university cataract and refractive surgery center.

Methods

Adult patients admitted for extracapsular cataract surgery via phacoemulsification and posterior chamber lens implantation between 2016 and 2019 were retrospectively analyzed.
Patients were identified using the patient database and surgical reports were reviewed for posterior capsular defects. Other factors as well as age, gender, and ocular biometry were recorded.

Results

A total of 2325 eyes of 1967 patients (age: 70.56 ± 8.42, 1005 women; 962 men), were included. In 59 (2.54%) eyes an intraoperative posterior capsular defect was documented. In the majority of cases, no vitreous prolapse occurred (n=38, 1.63 %). In contrast, vitreous prolapse occurred in 12 cases (0.65 %), additionally with loss of lens components in 9 cases (0.52 %). The mean age of those affected was 70.95 ± 8.52 years (31 women, 28 men). Revision surgery was required in 25 cases during follow-up. Ocular biometry measurements (n = 59) revealed a mean lens thickness of 4950.36 ± 466.63 μm, axial length of 23.73 ± 1.77 mm with a mean keratometry of 30.33 ± 17.47 dpt and an anterior chamber depth of 3.02 ± 0.71 mm.

Conclusions

In this series, the complication of posterior capsular rupture occurred in 59 of 2325 cataract surgeries. Posterior capsular defect was shown to be influenced by variations in ocular biometry with respect to lens thickness and anterior chamber depth.
Posterior capsular defects occurred infrequently but produced significant consequences, including higher resource utilization due to the number of revision procedures.