corneal endothelial cell density and morphology after photorefractive keratectomy with mitomycin c

purpose: to assess the short-term effect of mitomycin-c (mmc) 0.02% on endothelial cell density and morphology after photorefractive keratectomy (prk) in patients with moderate myopia. methods: forty-two eyes of 21 participants with moderate myopia (range, -4.0 to -8.0 d) underwent prk with mmc 0.02% for 40 seconds. specular microscopy was performed preoperatively and repeated 6 months after surgery to determine any change in central endothelial cell density (ecd), mean cell area (mca), and coefficient of variation in cell size (cv). results: mean patient age was 26.2±6.3. mean preoperative spherical equivalent refractive error was -5.2±1.2 d which was reduced to -0.4±0.5 d postoperatively (p < 0.001). mean ecd was reduced insignificantly from 2920±363 cells/mm2 preoperatively to 2802±339 cells/mm2 postoperatively (p = 0.59). similarly, there was no significant change in mca (p= 0.76) or cv (p= 0.52) at six months. conclusion: intraoperative mmc 0.02% applied for 40 seconds during prk for moderate myopia did not significantly change central corneal endothelial cell density and morphology after 6 months.