Preliminary study of the association between corneal histocytological changes and surgically induced astigmatism after phacoemulsification (BMC Ophthalmology)

Background: Surgically induced astigmatism (SIA) was one of the factors that influences the desirable refractive outcome, and it was related to the length, type, location, structure of the incision and to the suture closure technique, etc. The aim was to evaluate the association of corneal histocytological changes with SIA after phacoemulsification. Methods: The study enrolled 68 cases of cataract patient (68 eyes). Corneal histocytological parameters at corneal incision, central cornea and contralateral incision obtained by confocal microscope through focusing(CMTF) were compared preoperatively and 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months postoperatively. These biometric parameters included the endothelial cell density, keratocyte density of posterior stromal layer, and the morphological changes. SIA was calculated by Jaffe`s vector analysis. Results: 1 From preoperatively to 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months postoperatively, the endothelail cell density was decreased significantly(p < 0.05). Keratocyte density of posterior stroma layer was increased significantly only at 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months postoperatively(p