POSTOPERATIVE CHANGES OVER TIME IN SIZE OF ANTERIOR CAPSULORRHEXIS INPHACOEMULSIFICATION ASPIRATION/

In the present study, we attempted to determine the extent to which an anterior capsulorrhexis carried out during cataract surgery contracts postoperatively. The size of the continuous curvilinear capsulorrhexi s (CCC) was measured at the end of surgery and at the final follow-up examination in 52 eyes of 40 patients who underwent phacoemulsificatio n/aspiration and implantation of an intraocular lens (IOL) with 6-mm o ptics. Images obtained by video during surgery and by slit-lamp micros copy were used to determine the CCC size with reference to the optics of the IOL. The average CCC size was 5.0 mm at the end of surgery; it contracted to 4.4 mm by the final postoperative examination. The contr action of the anterior capsule progressed rapidly in the first 50 days following surgery and then gradually thereafter. The extent of contra ction was greater in older patients. The smaller the CCC size immediat ely after surgery, the more rapidly it contracted. The size of the cap sulorrhexis contracted an average of 22% following cataract surgery. T he contraction rate tended to be higher in older patients. The results suggest that the capsulorrhexis carried out in cataract surgery for e lderly patients should be sufficiently large, but not larger than the optics size of the IOL. (C) 1998 Japanese Ophthalmological Society.