Corneal Edema Monitoring After Cataract Phacoemulsification: Analysis Of The Corneal Epithelial Thickness Depending On The Endothelial Cell Density
Published 2025 - 43rd Congress of the ESCRS
Reference: PO810 | Type: Poster | DOI: 10.82333/d7j5-7j68
Authors: Marta Cerdá-Ibáñez* 1 , Neus Burguera-Giménez 2 , Sara Mora Sáez 2 , Cristina Peris Martínez 2
1Glaucoma and Cataract,FOMCV,Valencia,Spain, 2FOMCV,Valencia,Spain
Purpose
To assess the corneal epithelial thickness (CET) changes before and after uneventful cataract surgery taking
into account the number of endothelial cell density (ECD).
Setting
Fundación de Oftalmología Médica de la Comunidad Valenciana (FOMCV)
Methods
This single-center and prospective study involved 51 eyes of 51 patients which were divided into two groups
according to the ECD; low ECD (LECD): 21 eyes with less than 1500 cells/mm2 and high ECD (HECD): 30 eyes with
more than 1500 cells/mm2 . CET variations were studied in 9 epithelial sectors at first day, first week, first month and sixth
months after phacoemulsification using an anterior swept-source OCT. The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney rank sum test was
used to evaluate differences between groups, and a repeated measures analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with
preoperative ECD as a covariate was conducted in each out of 9 epithelial sectors.
Results
Preoperatively, patients with HECD presented 2.7 μm significant thicker CET than patients with LECD over the inferior sector (p=0.015). On day 1, significant higher epithelial thickening occurred in LECD group than HECD at inferior, nasal, nasal-superior ( and nasal-inferior epithelial sector. On week 1, LECD group experimented non-significant greater epithelial thinning than HECD overall sectors (on average -1.3 μm, p> 0.05). On month 1, significant epithelial thinning in LECD occurred (on average -1.9 μm, p= 0.024), meanwhile HECD returned to the baseline level (on average -0.4 μm, p> 0.05). On month 6, non-significant CET variations took place.
Conclusions
The immediate postoperative corneal oedema after phacoemulsification differently impacted in epithelial
layer depending on endothelial cell count. The first day, greater transient epithelial oedema in patients with LECD
occurred, following at one week and one month by a greater epithelial thinning. The epithelial remodeling varied
according to ECD, being higher in LECD and over the inferior and nasal area, with no changes in the superior and
temporal area where the main incision is located.