Objective: To measure preoperative corneal astigmatism in cataract patients.
Study design: Descriptive study. Place and Duration of the Study: Mughal Eye Hospital, Lahore, from 2018 to 2022.
Methodology: The amount of preoperative corneal astigmatism was noted in cataract patients. Inclusion criteria included cataract patients above 16 years of age. Exclusion criteria included any preexisting corneal pathology (including corneal scar, corneal oedema, pterygium, etc.) and any previous ocular surgery, e.g. trabeculectomy, pterygium excision. SPSS version 25 was used for recording the data.
Results: Descriptive statistics were determined for demographic data and keratometry variables. Range of corneal astigmatism was zero to 5.75 dioptre with a mean of 1.05 dioptre (D) and standard deviation of 0.83. Corneal astigmatism of one or less than one diopter was recorded in 468 eyes (66.7%). Corneal astigmatism of 1.1 to 2 D was noted in 166 eyes (23.6%). Forty-nine eyes (7%) had corneal astigmatism of 2.1 to 3.0 D. Corneal astigmatism of 3.1 to 4.0 D, 4.1 to 5.0 D and 5.1 to 6 D was encountered in 11 (1.6%), 5 (0.7%) and 3 (0.4%) eyes respectively.
Conclusion: A marked proportion of patients undergoing cataract operation have corneal astigmatism, so the phacoemulsification surgeon should consider difference of keratometry findings preoperatively.
Key words: Corneal curvature, Corneal astigmatism, Phacoemulsification, Incision, Keratometry.