Abstract
Background We investigated changes in corneal thickness following combined cataract and vitreous surgery and determined whether such changes could be used as a criterion for evaluating the invasiveness of combined surgery.MethodsThis retrospective, consecutive, comparative study examined 35 eyes that had undergone combined cataract and 23-gauge vitrectomy for epiretinal membrane (ERM) (18 eyes) and rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) (17 eyes). Corneal thickness was measured before, 1 day, 1 week, and 1 and 3 months after the surgery. Measurements were performed at the center and at points 3 mm superior, inferior, nasal and temporal to the center of the cornea.ResultsIn both groups, postoperative corneal thickness at all points showed a significant increase at 1 day after the surgery when compared with the preoperative measurements (p < 0.05, paired t test). At the center and inferior points, the mean corneal thickness in the RRD group was thicker than the mean of the ERM group at 1 day after surgery. With the exception of the inferior point, the postoperative data for both groups showed a significant increase in the corneal thickness at 1 week after surgery compared with the preoperative measurements. At 1 week after surgery, the mean corneal thickness in the RRD group at the center, inferior and temporal points was thicker than the mean of the ERM group.ConclusionsCorneal thickness measurements are useful for assessing the extent of surgical stress that follows combined cataract and vitreous surgery.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13104-015-1676-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
We investigated changes in corneal thickness following combined cataract and vitreous surgery and determined whether such changes could be used as a criterion for evaluating the invasiveness of combined surgery
We have previously reported finding a significant increase in the corneal thickness after vitrectomy, with the thickness subsequently recovering to the preoperative levels at 1 month after the procedure [5]
In this study we compared changes in the corneal thickness following combined cataract surgery and vitrectomy for epiretinal membrane (ERM) and rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) and determined whether such changes could be used as a criterion for evaluating the invasiveness of combined surgery
Summary
We investigated changes in corneal thickness following combined cataract and vitreous surgery and determined whether such changes could be used as a criterion for evaluating the invasiveness of combined surgery. Surgical invasions associated with cataract surgery lead to transient increases in the corneal thickness prior to a gradual recovery to preoperative levels [1,2,3,4]. Corneal thickness changes are considered to be useful indicators of corneal endothelial function [2]. These changes have been used to evaluate the degree of invasion caused by cataract surgery, a procedure that involves the anterior chamber [1]. It has been shown that corneal thickness measurements can be useful for assessing the extent of the surgical stress that occurs following vitrectomy
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