Transconjunctival corneoscleral tunnel "blue line" cataract incision

Purpose: To report the technique and astigmatic results of the blue line ca taract incision. Setting: The Buzard Eye Institute, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Methods: This prospective study included 411 eyes of 271 patients who had c ataract extraction by phacoemulsification with a self-sealing 3.0 mm blue l ine cataract incision. The blue line incision is performed with a diamond k nife transconjunctively, 2.0 mm behind the surgical limbus. Results: Mean patient age was 68 years (range 40 to 94 years) and mean preo perative astigmatism, 0.96 diopter (D) +/- 0.78 (SD). Uncorrected visual ac uity at 1 day was 20/40 or better in 47% of patients. Mean spherical equiva lent was -0.57 +/- 0.78 D at 6 months. Mean postoperative astigmatism measu red with a subtraction method was 1.00 +/- 0.84 D at 6 months. Vector analy sis showed an induced astigmatism of -0.47 +/- 1.00 D at 1 month, -0.58 +/- 0.81 D at 3 months, and -0.57 +/- 0.99 D at 6 months. No complications suc h as wound leakage or hyphema occurred. Conclusion: The blue line incision combines the efficiency of the clear cor neal with the safety of the scleral tunnel cataract incision and appears to be relatively astigmatically neutral. (C) 2000 ASCRS and ESCRS.