Postoperative inflammation after lens epithelial cell removal: 2 year results

Purpose: To evaluate the influence on postoperative inflammation of lens ep ithelial cell (LEC) removal after phacoemulsification. Setting: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria . Methods: This randomized prospective single-surgeon study comprised 60 pati ents with senile cataract only. After a temporal clear corneal incision was made and phacoemulsification performed, no LECs were removed in Group A, L ECs in the nasal half were removed in Group B, and LECs were removed from t he entire anterior capsule in Group C. The LECs were removed with a Rentsch capsule curette (Geuder), In all eyes, a foldable hydrogel intraocular len s (Hydroview((R)), Bausch & Lomb) was implanted. Anterior chamber flare was evaluated through dilated pupils in a double-masked fashion using a Kowa F C-1000 laser flare-cell meter (LFCM). Measurements were done preoperatively as well as 1, 3, 7, 14, and 28 days and 3, 6, 12, and 24 months postoperat ively. Results: In all 3 groups, the flare and cell values increased on the first postoperative day followed by a successive decrease thereafter. One month a fter surgery, the blood-aqueous barrier (BAB) was nearly restored in all gr oups. Between the first and fourth week, the flare values in Groups B and C were slightly lower than in Group A; however, mean flare and cell values a mong groups were not statistically significantly different at any measureme nt. Conclusion: The removal of LECs from the anterior capsule with a Rentsch cu rette did not influence postoperative BAB changes detected using an LFCM. ( C) 2001 ASCRS and ESCRS.