Post Operative Corneal Thickness Evaluation : Three Dimensions Visualization System Versus Conventional Biomicroscopy In Cataract Surgery

Cataract surgery is one of the most practiced surgeries, continually evolving in the world. With the emergence of 3D microscopes, the ‘heads-up surgery’ has become a new trend in the field of ophthalmology. the purpose of our study was  to evaluate the incidence and importance of corneal edema in patients operated with the 3D viewing system versus conventional microscope after cataract surgery. 

Military hospital of tunis, Ophtalmology departement, tunisia

we conducted a prospective study including 34 patients that were operated by phacoemulsification for senile cataract. Patients with corneal dystrophy or nuclear cataract grade 4 or 5 regarding LOCS III classification, or with pupil size after dilatation that was inferior to 4 mm were excluded. We measured central corneal thickness (CCT) on pachymetry with optical coherence tomography before and at day 7,  1 and 3 month post-operative. 

Our study included 34 patients that underwent cataract surgery. Group 1 consisted of 15 patients that were operated with conventional microscope and group 2 was made of 19 patients who were operated with 3 D visualization system. On first day after surgery, patients of group 1 had a better visual acuity than those of group 2 without statistical significance ((0.054 vs 0.068) logMar). Mean corneal edema was also more severe in group 2 with 1 month CCT at 34.0 µm (±7.3) than in group 1 (22.4 µm (±3.3)) but was statistically non-significant. At 3 month follow-up, cornea was clear in all the patients of the study. No complications occurred in the two groups

3D visualization system may cause more corneal edema than conventional microscope in cataract surgery but further studies are necessary to approve these conclusions.