Short term effects of small incision lenticule extraction surgery on corneal endothelium

Dan-Yang Wang; Man-Li Liu; Yi-Le Chen; Xiao-Ying Zhang; Yang-Tao Xu; Jian-Chao Wang; Chi-Ho To; Jian-Guo Wang; Quan Liu

doi:10.18240/ijo.2016.04.09

Short term effects of small incision lenticule extraction surgery on corneal endothelium

Int J Ophthalmol. 2016 Apr 18;9(4):536-9. doi: 10.18240/ijo.2016.04.09. eCollection 2016.

Authors

Dan-Yang Wang¹, Man-Li Liu², Yi-Le Chen², Xiao-Ying Zhang², Yang-Tao Xu³, Jian-Chao Wang⁴, Chi-Ho To⁵, Jian-Guo Wang⁶, Quan Liu⁵

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510060, Guangdong Province, China; Hainan Eye Hospital, Zhongshan Ophthamic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Haikou 570311, Hainan Province, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510060, Guangdong Province, China.
³ Department of Ophthalmology, Liu Zhou Worker's Hospital, Liuzhou 545006, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
⁴ Department of Ophthalmology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710000, Shaanxi Province, China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510060, Guangdong Province, China; Laboratory of Experimental Optometry, Centre for Myopia Research, School of Optometry, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
⁶ Wuzhishan Ophthalmic Hospital, Wuzhishan 572200, Hainan Province, China.

Abstract

Aim: To assess the effects of small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) surgery on the corneal endothelium at 1d to 1mo postoperatively.

Methods: A retrospective, observational study was conducted on 47 patients (47 eyes) who received SMILE surgery. Patients were grouped according to contact lens wear condition. The corneal endothelium was examined preoperatively and at 1d, 1wk and 1mo postoperatively. The corneal endothelium was analyzed for endothelial cell density (ECD), percentage of hexagonal cells, and coefficient of variation (CV) of cell size.

Results: There were no significant decrease in the ECD, percentage of hexagonal cells or increase in CV at 1d, 1wk and 1mo postoperatively (P>0.05). However, there was a small increase of ECD by 2.88% in contact lens wearers (78.26±113.62 cell/mm(2), P<0.05).

Conclusion: SMILE has no significant adverse effects on the corneal ECD and morphology during 1mo follow-up time.

Keywords: corneal endothelium; myopia; refractive surgery.