The effect of phacoemulsification on corneal endothelial cell density.
Seventy-six patients who had undergone unilateral phacoemulsification of cataracts had their endothelial cell density (ECD) measured by specular microscopy. When compared with the unoperated contralateral eye, there was a mean decrease in ECD of 33.8%. Ten patients who had undergone unilateral intracapsular cataract extraction had a mean decrease in ECD of 14.9%. Cataract extraction by phacoemulsification appears to be more traumatic to the corneal endothelium than is intracapsular extraction.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002387:Cataract Extraction / Q000379:methods*; D002452:Cell Count; D003315:Cornea / Q000473:pathology*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000473:pathology; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged