Consensual inflammation following ocular surgery.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether a consensual inflammatory response occurs following unilateral phacoemulsification or trabeculectomy in humans.


METHODS
Sixty patients undergoing phacoemulsification or primary trabeculectomy were included in the study. Some patients were randomly assigned to have a shield placed on the non-operated eye during surgery. The Kowa laser flare meter (FM-500) and laser cell counter (LC-500) (Kowa Electronics and Optics, Tokyo, Japan) were used to assess the inflammatory response in both eyes. Measurements were taken preoperatively and on postoperative days 1, 7 and 28. The regression analysis with random model effect was used to identify factors which may affect the change of flare and cells in the non-operated eye after surgery. Correlation was evaluated between the inflammatory responses of the paired eyes. A P<0.05 was considered statistically significant for all analyses.


RESULTS
The flare and cells in the non-operated eye showed a small, but significant, increase on day 1 (mean flare increased 2.68 photons/ms from preoperative level with P<0.001 and mean cells increased 2.49 cells/0.5 mm3 from preoperative level with P<0.0001). At day 7 the amount of inflammation was still elevated (mean flare increased 0.41 photons/ms from preoperative level with P<0.001 and mean cells increased 0.63 cells/0.5 mm3 from preoperative level with P<0.001). By day 28, the amount of inflammation in the nonoperated eyes returned to preoperative levels.


CONCLUSIONS
Subclinical inflammation occurs in the non-operated eye following phacoemulsification and trabeculectomy. The etiology of this finding has yet to be elucidated.
El-Harazi
S M
SM
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, USA.
Feldman
R M
RM
Ruiz
R S
RS
Villanueva
G
G
Chuang
A Z
AZ
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000867:Anterior Chamber / Q000473:pathology*; D002452:Cell Count / Q000379:methods; D003941:Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007834:Lasers; D019654:Lens Implantation, Intraocular; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018918:Phacoemulsification / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014130:Trabeculectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014606:Uveitis, Anterior / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*