AQUEOUS FLARE MEASUREMENT AFTER CATARACT- SURGERY BY PHACOEMULSIFICATION

Purpose To prospectively evaluate use of the laser-flare meter the inf lammatory response after phacoemulsification with four differents type s of intraocular lenses. Methods Measurements with the Kowa laser flar e meter FC-500 were done before surgery and at 1, 6 and 21 days follow ing standard phacoemulsification with corneal incision in 157 patients . The patients were randomized in four groups to receive HSM IOL (grou p I), foldable acrylic IOL (group II), foldable three-piece silicone ( group III), and foldable single-piece silicone (group IV). Results Ove rall, mean flare values were increased at D1, and decreased rapidly to normal values at D21. Intragroup analysis showed a slight increase of flare value observed in the PMMA group (p = 0.0015) and silicone mono bloc group (p = 0.001) at D21 compared to D0. There was no statistical difference found between D0 and D21 in the acrylic and the silicone t hree pieces groups. At D1, a significant increase of flare values was observed in the PMMA (28.9 ph/ms) and silicone three pieces (28.8 ph/m s) groups, as compared to silicone monobloc group (22 ph/ms). At D21, the acrylic group had a significantly lower mean value than PMMA and s ilicone monobloc groups. No statistical difference was observed betwee n acrylic and three-piece silicone at D21. Conclusion This study shows that the inflammation in the four groups was very low after phacoemul sification by a corneal incision and tempts to explain the impact of t he incision length on the breakdown of blood-aqueous barrier.