MICS and phaco on a par?

Microincision cataract surgery (MICS) and phacoemulsification result in similar visual outcomes and early endothelial cell loss, according to a study published in the November/December 2006 issue of the European Journal of Ophthalmology.

Michal Wilczynski and colleagues from the Medical University of Lodz, Poland prospectively compared 40 eyes of 40 patients undergoing surgery. Half of the subjects underwent MICS and the other half underwent standard phaco with implantation of a foldable intraocular lens (IOL).

At ten days follow-up, the two groups had statistically similar mean best corrected visual acuity (BCVA); 0.94 in the MICS group and 0.9 in the phaco group (p>0.05). Both groups showed significant decreases in postoperative endothelial cell density and the losses were also statistically similar. The MICS patients lost an average of 9.5% of cells for a mean postoperative cell density of 2,235 cells/mm². Patients in the phaco group lost an average of 7.6% of cells for a mean postoperative cell density of 2,079 cells/mm² (p>0.05).

The authors of the study concluded that MICS and phacoemulsification result in statistically similar early endothelial cell losses, in addition to similar visual outcomes.