title: Macular morphology assessed by optical coherence tomography image segmentation after femtosecond laser-assisted and standard cataract surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate and compare thickness changes in the retinal layers in the macula with optical coherence tomography (OCT) segmentation software after femtosecond laser-assisted phacoemulsification (study group) and conventional phacoemulsification (control group).
  
  
  METHODS
  Department of Ophthalmology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case-control study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Total retinal thickness of the macula was evaluated using Stratus OCT 4 to 8 weeks postoperatively. The OCT images were segmented using OCT retinal image analysis software. Regional thickness data in the central area, inner rings, and outer rings were obtained and absolute and relative thicknesses of the individual retinal layers in the 2 study groups compared. Relative thickness was calculated as the ratio of the retinal layer to the total retinal thickness.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All surgeries were uneventful. Statistically significant differences were found in absolute outer nuclear layer thickness and relative outer nuclear layer thickness in the inner and outer macular rings between the 2 groups. After adjusting for effective phaco time in multivariate modeling, type of surgery showed a significantly lower relative outer nuclear layer ratio in the inner retinal ring (0.26 with 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.25-0.27 versus 0.28 with 95% CI, 0.27-0.29; P=.03) and in the outer retinal ring (0.27 with 95% CI, 0.25-0.28 versus 0.29 with 95% CI, 0.28-0.31; P=.02) in the study group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  After cataract surgery, macular edema was detectable mainly in the outer nuclear layer in both groups but was significantly less using the femtosecond laser platform.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary. zoltan.nagy100@gmail.com
authors.forename: Zoltán Z
authors.initials: ZZ
authors.lastname: Nagy
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ecsedy
authors.forename: Illés
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kovács
authors.forename: Ágnes
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Takács
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tátrai
authors.forename: Gábor Márk
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Somfai
authors.forename: Delia
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cabrera DeBuc
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy; D054018:Lasers, Excimer; D008269:Macular Edema / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018918:Phacoemulsification / Q000379:methods*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence