Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jun 24;45(1):262.
doi: 10.1007/s10792-025-03638-8.

Effects of uncomplicated phacoemulsification surgery on retinal vascular diameters, subfoveal choroidal and central macular thickness

Selen Akbulut  1 , Gokhan Pekel  2
Affiliations

Effects of uncomplicated phacoemulsification surgery on retinal vascular diameters, subfoveal choroidal and central macular thickness

Selen Akbulut et al. Int Ophthalmol. .

Abstract

Purpose: In this prospective study, we aimed to investigate the effect of uncomplicated phacoemulsification surgery on retinal vascular diameters (RVD), SFCT (subfoveal choroidal thickness), central macular thickness (CMT) in patients with senile cataract.

Methods: Data from a total of 66 eyes of 61 patients with grade 2-3 senile cataract who underwent uncomplicated phacoemulsification surgery between July 2018 and September 2019 were included in the study. The patients' age, gender, operated eye side, and ophthalmological examination and imaging data, postoperative RVD, SFCT and CMT measurements by spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) were recorded. The preoperative and postoperative follow-up measurements of the examination and imaging parameters were analyzed.

Results: There was no statistically significant difference in SFCT and retinal arteriolar diameter values between the preoperative and postoperative follow-up measurements (p > 0.05). Regarding retinal vein diameter values, there was a statistically significant decrease observed at 3 months compared to 1 week postoperative value (p: 0.033). Although a statistically non-significant decrease was observed at 1 week postoperatively (277.9 ± 33.99 μm), a statistically significant increase in CMT was noted at both 1 month and 3 months postoperatively compared to the preoperative value (283.72 ± 37.50 μm and 284.33 ± 36.96 μm, respectively) (p = 0.001). A statistically significant negative correlation was observed between age and SFCT before surgery (r = - 0.394, p = 0.003), at 1 week (r = - 0.411, p = 0.004), and at 1 month postoperatively (r = - 0.419, p = 0.003).

Conclusion: The choroid, retinal layers and retinal vascular structures may be impacted by surgical-induced inflammation in uncomplicated phacoemulsification surgery.

Keywords: Cataract; Macular thickness; Retinal vessel diameter; Uncomplicated phacoemulsification.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflicts of interest: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics approval: Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Pamukkale University Ethical Committee (Approval No: E.53195).

References

    1. Asbell PA, Dualan I, Mindel J, Brocks D, Ahmad M, Epstein S (2005) Age-related cataract. Lancet (London, England) 365:599–609. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(05)17911-2 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Liu YC, Wilkins M, Kim T, Malyugin B, Mehta JS (2017) Cataracts. Lancet (London, England) 390:600–612. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(17)30544-5 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kelman CD (1994) The history and development of phacoemulsification. Int Ophthalmol Clin 34:1–12. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004397-199403420-00002 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Narayan A, Evans JR, O’Brart D, Bunce C, Gore DM, Day AC (2023) Laser-assisted cataract surgery versus standard ultrasound phacoemulsification cataract surgery. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 6:Cd010735. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD010735.pub3 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Yb USTA (1992) Fako-pekke cerrahi yöntemlerin karşılaştırılması. Turkiye Klinikleri J Ophthalmol 1:201–203

LinkOut - more resources