Endothelial Cell Count and Central Corneal Volume in Conventional Phacoemulsification Compared With Femtosecond Laser-Assisted Surgery
Narrative Responses:
Purpose
To compare the endothelial cell count and central corneal volume between the group of conventional phacoemulsification and the femtosecond laser assisted surgery.
Methods
Prospective, comparative, experimental and randomized study of 64 cataract patients who had surgery between May and August of 2013. Patients where randomly choose to have either femtosecond laser assisted surgery (Femto group) or the conventional phacoemulsification (Phaco group). The endothelial cell count was determined by specular microscopy preoperatively, 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month postoperatively. The same process was applied to assess the central corneal volume by measuring it with ultrasonic paquimetry. We included patients with similar cataract density, older than 40 years old and with no corneal pathology.
Results
The mean age was 64.59 ± 14.61 years. In the multivariable modeling, there were no significant differences in the mean central corneal volume (P= 0.44) and the endothelial cell count (P=0.45). There was not statistical significance difference between the central corneal volume and the endothelial cell count of the conventional phaco and the femto group.
Conclusion
The femtosecond laser-assisted surgery has the same impact in corneal swelling and endothelial trauma that the conventional phaco surgery.