Purpose: To investigate the influence of cataract surgery on corneal biomechanical parameters.
Subjects and methods: In this study, we included 22 eyes of 14 patients who underwent cataract surgery at Osaka University Hospital and provided written informed consent (mean age, 73±8 years; four males and 10 females). The exclusion criteria included other ocular pathologies and unreliable examination findings preoperatively and 3 months postoperatively. Corneal biomechanical parameters were measured using a dynamic Scheimpflug analyzer. Differences in biomechanical preoperative and postoperative parameters were initially assessed using univariate paired t-tests. Parameters showing significant changes were then analyzed using a multivariate mixed-effects models, controlling for possible confounding factors such as intraocular pressure, axial length, and anterior chamber depth.
Results: Five among 31 biomechanical parameters from the Scheimpflug analyzer showed statistically significant differences between preoperative and postoperative values according to univariate analyses. Intraocular pressure also significantly decreased postoperatively (15.1±2.8 vs 12.6±1.9, p=0.0001). However, none of the biomechanical parameters showed statistically significant differences according to multivariate analyses. Four among the five parameters showed significant correlations with intraocular pressure in multivariate analyses.
Conclusions: Univariate analyses revealed significant differences between preoperative and postoperative values for some biomechanical parameters measured using the dynamic Scheimpflug analyzer in patients undergoing cataract surgery. However, none of the parameters showed statistically significant differences in multivariate models. This suggested that there were confounding effects of other factors (e.g., decreased intraocular pressure) and that the actual changes in biomechanical parameters were small.
Nippon Ganka Gakkai Zasshi (J Jpn Ophthalmol Soc) 122: 293-299, 2018.