%0 Journal Article
%A Díaz Valle, David
%A Benítez Del Castillo Sánchez, José Manuel
%A Castillo Gómez, Alfredo
%A Sayagues, Octavio
%A Moriche, Manuel
%T Endothelial damage with cataract surgery techniques
%D 1998
%@ 0886-3350
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/112594
%X Purpose: To evaluate intraoperative endothelial damage after planned extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) with different capsulotomy techniques and phacoemulsification.Settings: San Carlos University Hospital, Castroviejo Institute, Madrid, Spain.Methods: In this prospective, randomized study, 60 patients with senile cataract scheduled for cataract surgery were divided into three groups of 20 each: Group 1 had phacoemulsification; Group 2, planned ECCE with continuous curvilinear capsulorhexis; and Group 3, ECCE with letter-box capsulotomy. Preoperatively and 3 months postoperatively, endothelial cell density, percentage of hexagonality, and the cell size variation coefficient were determined by contact specular microscopy; endothelial permeability was examined by anterior segment fluorophotometry and central comeal thickness, by ultrasonic pachymetry. Results were analyzed using the two-tailed Students t-test and analysis of variance.Results: In all three groups, endothelial permeability and cell loss increased significantly from the preoperative values, but there were no significant differences among the postoperative values. Mean cell loss was 11.8% in Group 1, 12.8% in Group 2, and 10.1% in Group 3. There were no differences between the preoperative and postoperative morphometric indexes. Postoperative pachymetric measurements were not significant.Conclusions: Endothelial response was not statistically significantly different among the surgical techniques, although endothelial damage was lower in Group 3, which could indicate a protective effect of the anterior capsule during cataract extraction. Endothelial barrier function remained disturbed despite the apparent morphological stabilization.
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