Corneal aberrations after microincision cataract surgery

PURPOSE: To study the effect of microincision cataract surgery (MICS) on the optical quality of the cornea, characterized in terms of Seidel aberrations. SETTING: Instituto Oftalmologico de Alicante, Vissum, Alicante, Spain. METHODS: This study comprised 25 eyes of 25 patients with nuclear or corticonuclear cataract of grade 2 + to 4+ (Lens Opacities Classification System III). Microincision cataract surgery was performed using low ultrasound power through a 1.6 to 1.8 mm clear corneal incision placed on the axis of the positive corneal meridian. An Acri.Smart 48S intraocular lens (Acri.Tec) was implanted in all eyes. Seidel aberration root-mean-square (RMS) values were obtained with a 6.0 mm aperture using the CSO topographer (Costruzione Strumenti Oftalmici) preoperatively and 1 and 3 months postoperatively. RESULTS: The total RMS after MICS decreased slightly from a mean of 2.15 mu m +/- 2.51 (SD) preoperatively to 1.96 +/- 2.01 mu m postoperatively; the decrease was not statistically significant (P = 1.00). The difference between the corneal astigmatism from preoperatively (-0.80 +/- 0.76 diopter [D]) to postoperatively (-0.63 +/- 0.62 D) was not statistically significant (P = 1.00) nor were the differences in Seidel aberrations, coma, or higher-order aberrations. CONCLUSION: Microincision cataract surgery did not degrade the optical quality of the cornea or induce a modification in corneal astigmatism, including the axis.