outcomes of senile cataract surgery in patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome using phacoemulsification

purpose: to report and compare outcomes and intra- and postoperative complications of senile cataract surgery using phacoemulsification in patients with and without pseudoexfoliation syndrome. methods: consecutive patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome who underwent phacoemulsification in one or both eyes for senile cataracts between october 2009 and october 2010 were enrolled in the study. if both eyes of each participant were operated on, data relevant to the right eye were considered. the control group was selected among patients with senile cataracts who did not have pseudoexfoliation syndrome. other ocular pathologies including a history of trauma or previous ocular surgeries led to patient exclusion from the study. the two study groups were compared with respect to pre- and postoperative uncorrected and best corrected visual acuity and intraocular pressure, as well as intra- and postoperative complications. results: this study was conducted on 371 (174 right) eyes of 371 patients, 327 eyes belonged to the control group and 44 eyes to the pseudoexfoliation group. mean patient age was 68±11 years and 73±7 years in the control and case group, respectively. preoperative best corrected visual acuity was 0.65±0.48 logmar and 0.91±0.67 logmar respectively. preoperative mean intraocular pressure was 15.0±8.0 mmhg in the control group and 15.0±2.0 mmhg in the case group. the difference did not reach a significant level. at the last follow-up examination, best corrected visual acuity was increased to 0.22±0.18 logmar in the control group and 0.22±0.12 logmar in the case group. with respect to preoperative values, the increase was statistically significant in both groups (p<0.001 and p=0.003, respectively). however, there was no significant difference between the study groups in terms of postoperative best corrected visual acuity. postoperative spherical equivalent refraction was significantly higher in the control group (-0.42±0.65 d) than that in the case group (-0.16±0.45 d). intraocular pressure readings measured at all postoperative follow-up examinations were significantly lower than preoperative values in both groups. no significant difference was observed in these measurements between the groups postoperatively. intraoperative complications included vitreous loss (n=2; 0.5%) and zonular dehiscence (n=1; 0.3%) in the control group. these complcations were not observed in the case group. conclusion: outcomes of phacoemulsification in patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome can be expect ed to be similar to patients without this syndrome provided that a thorough preoperative evaluation such as examination of zonules as well as appropriate intraoperative approach for the management of small pupil and weak zonules are performed.