Corneal aberrations after microincision cataract surgery

Purpose

To study the effect of microincision cataract surgery (MICS) on the optical quality of the cornea, characterized in terms of Seidel aberrations.

Setting

Instituto Oftalmológico de Alicante, Vissum, Alicante, Spain.

Methods

This study comprised 25 eyes of 25 patients with nuclear or corticonuclear cataract of grade 2+ to 4+ (Lens Opacities Classification System III). Microincision cataract surgery was performed using low ultrasound power through a 1.6 to 1.8 mm clear corneal incision placed on the axis of the positive corneal meridian. An Acri.Smart 48S intraocular lens (Acri.Tec) was implanted in all eyes. Seidel aberration root-mean-square (RMS) values were obtained with a 6.0 mm aperture using the CSO topographer (Costruzione Strumenti Oftalmici) preoperatively and 1 and 3 months postoperatively.

Results

The total RMS after MICS decreased slightly from a mean of 2.15 μm ± 2.51 (SD) preoperatively to 1.96 ± 2.01 μm postoperatively; the decrease was not statistically significant (P = 1.00). The difference between the corneal astigmatism from preoperatively (−0.80 ± 0.76 diopter [D]) to postoperatively (−0.63 ± 0.62 D) was not statistically significant (P = 1.00) nor were the differences in Seidel aberrations, coma, or higher-order aberrations.

Conclusion

Microincision cataract surgery did not degrade the optical quality of the cornea or induce a modification in corneal astigmatism, including the axis.