EVALUATION OF THE CORNEAL ENDOTHELIUM AFTER PHACOEMULSIFICATION IN PATIENTS WITH HYPEROPIC LASIK.

To evaluate the corneal endothelium after phacoemulsification in patients with previous history of hyperopic LASIK and compare the parameters with hyperopic patients with no history of hyperopic LASIK.

A prospective, cohort study that was carried out on Minia Opthalmology department

A prospective, cohort study that was carried out on 70 eyes of hyperopic patients divided into 2 groups, group 1 included 35 eyes of hyperopic patients and group 2 included 35 eyes of hyperopic patients with previous history of hyperopic LASIK. Specular microscopy (NIDEK, CEM-530, Japan) was done preoperatively, after 1,3, and 6 months postoperatively with the following parameters, central endothelial cell density (ECD), the coefficient of variation (CV), hexagonal cells and central corneal thickness (CCT).

On comparison of both groups with each other, in the preoperative values, there were no significant differences in the ECD, CV, and HEX while there were significant differences in the CCT, after 1 month, there were significant difference in the ECD and CCT. After 3 and 6 months, there were no significant differences in the ECD, CV, and HEX. 

The phacoemulsification had significant effect on the corneal endothelium in hyperopic eyes with no significant difference between patients with previous history of hyperopic LASIK and hyperopic patients without history of hyperopic LASIK. So, phacoemulsification could be done safely in those patients with more precautions.