Cell loss the same with standard phaco and MICS

Phacoemulsification performed with a standard technique yields no significant differences in endothelial cell loss or endothelial morphology when compared with the procedure performed by bimanual microincision cataract surgery (MICS), according to the results of a study published in the August issue of the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

Rita Mencucci, MD and co-workers from the Department of Oto-Neuro-Ophthalmological Surgical Sciences Eye Clinic, University of Florence, Florence, Italy, randomized 80 patients into two groups; 40 eyes to undergo standard stop and chop phaco and the other 40 eyes to receive stop and chop phaco with bimanual MICS. Corneal endothelial cell counts, coefficient of variation in cell size, hexagonality and pachymetry were assessed preoperatively and then again one and three months postoperatively.

Preoperatively, the mean cell count for the entire sample was 2,245 cells/mm² ± 37 (SE). The mean count decreased by 102 cells at one month and by 144 at three months. The difference between the standard group and the MICS group was 25 cells at baseline, 19 cells at one month and 19 cells at three months. There were no changes in the coefficient of variation or morphology in the overall sample and the pattern of change did not differ between the two groups. Corneal thickness increased by 10.2 µm in the overall sample and approached baseline values by three months with an increase of 3.4 µm. There was no difference in corneal thickness between the two groups.

The authors concluded that no significant differences could be found in corneal endothelial cell loss or endothelial morphology between the two techniques.