Purpose: To investigate the distribution of corneal spherical aberration in Japanese eyes with cataract for implantation of aspheric intraocular lenses (IOLs).
Methods: Corneal spherical aberration (Zernike coefficient Z04) in the central 6-mm zone was measured with a wavefront analyzer (KR9000PW, Topcon) in 257 eyes of 168 Japanese patients with cataract. Axial length was also measured for each eye.
Results: Mean corneal spherical aberration was 0.203+/-0.100 microm (range: -0.103 to 0.497 microm). A significant negative correlation was found between axial length and corneal spherical aberration (r =/-0.135, P=.036).
Conclusions: Corneal spherical aberration varied among cataract patients and correlated with axial length. Japanese patients showed a relatively smaller corneal spherical aberration than previous studies of Caucasians. Preoperative measurement of wavefront aberrations is thus important in using aspheric IOLs.