title: CHANGES IN THE POSTERIOR VITREOUS AFTER CATARACT SURGERY ASSESSED BY SWEPT-SOURCE OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess changes in the posterior vitreous caused directly by phacoemulsification with implantation of an intraocular lens, using the enhanced vitreous swept-source optical coherence tomography system (Topcon, Tokyo, Japan).
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutive patients with cataract without posterior vitreous detachment were enrolled. Swept-source optical coherence tomography examinations were performed 1 day before and several days after surgery, using enhanced vitreous visualization. We compared preoperative and postoperative posterior vitreous status and measured the distance between the internal limiting membrane and the posterior vitreous membrane at 26 locations at the posterior pole.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Images of 33 eyes (21 patients) could be analyzed. The perifoveal posterior vitreous detachment was not extended in any eyes, and the internal limiting membrane to posterior vitreous membrane distance before and after surgery did not differ at any location measured (P = 0.071-1.000). The posterior precortical vitreous pocket was dilated in three eyes. Age, gender, axial length, preoperative visual activity, nuclear sclerosis, duration of surgery, and duration between surgery and swept-source optical coherence tomography did not differ between the dilated vitreous pocket group (n = 3) and the unchanged group (n = 30).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The height of the posterior vitreous membrane remained unchanged after surgery, although the posterior precortical vitreous pocket was dilated in three patients. Cataract surgery procedures seem to have little influence on the posterior vitreous membrane.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Otsuka
authors.forename: Sotaro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ooto
authors.forename: Nagahisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yoshimura
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019654:Lens Implantation, Intraocular / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018918:Phacoemulsification / Q000009:adverse effects*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*; D014792:Visual Acuity; D014822:Vitreous Body / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D020255:Vitreous Detachment / Q000209:etiology*