1 © 2017 Asian Medical Journals. All Rights Reserved. THE EFFECT OF PHACOEMULSIFICATION SURGERY ON CORNEAL ENDOTHELIUM Khalid Alarfaj MD 1 Abdullah Al Osaily 2 Moustafa Magliyah 3+ 1 Chairman Ophthalmology Department, Associate Professor, Dammam University, Saudi Arabia 2 Ophthalmology department, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia 3 Ophthalmology Resident, Eastern Region Ophthalmology Program, Prince Mohammed Medical City, Saudi Arabia (+ Corresponding author) ABSTRACT Article History Received: 15 March 2017 Revised: 3 May 2017 Accepted: 29 May 2017 Published: 13 June 2017 Keywords: Phacoemulsification Cataract Corneal endothelium Specular microscopy Hexagonality Endothelial cells Introduction: Around half of world blindness and fifth of visual impairment are caused by cataract. Treatment of cataract and refractive errors correction improve 73.6% of blindness. Preservation of the Anterior chamber and corneal endothelium are very important aims during cataract surgery. Methodology: This prospective, observational study was done at King Fahd Hospital of the University (KFUH), Alkhobar, Saudi Arabia. After getting the Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, the study was initiated at KFUH between April 2016 and August 2016. After getting the patients' informed consents, a thorough assessment was done to each patient prior to surgery. All eyes enrolled in the study have undergone phacoemulsification surgery procedure. For each patient, one month after the phacoemulsification surgery , specular microscopy was performed. The phacodynamic parameters and surgery time were compared with the degree of endothelial cells loss, hexagonality and central corneal thickness. Results: The phacodynamic parameters used during phacoemulsification, namely, power (AVG %), ultrasound time, and elliptical motion showed a strong correlation with the change of endothelial cell density (all P< .001). The length of surgery also showed a positive correlation with the amount of endothelial cell loss ( P < .001). All of these parameters did not significantly affect corneal endothelial hexagonality except elliptical motion. Change in central corneal thickness was very minimal. Conclusion: Endothelial loss was significantly associated with phacoemulsification power, ultrasound time, elliptical motion and length of surgery. Contribution/ Originality: This study is one of very few studies which have investigated the effect of phacoemulsification cataract surgery on density and shape of corneal endothelial cells. 1. INTRODUCTION The most common surgery done for American population above 65 years is cataract surgery [1] . Cataract is the most common cause of impaired vision in the world [2]. The prevalence of blindness in Saudi Arabia is 0.7% (52.6% due to cataract) and the prevalence of vision impairment is 10.9% (20.6% due to cataract). Treatment of cataract and refractive errors correction help 73.6% of blind subjects and 88.5% of visually handicapped population [3]. Recently, Cataract surgery has taken giant steps of improvement including new techniques, new instruments and the use of viscoelastics [4]. Phacoemulsification has become the most common cataract procedure since its Journal of Cells 2017 Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 1-5 ISSN(e): 2414-2476 ISSN(p): 2518-2560 DOI: 10.18488/journal.97.2017.21.1.5 © 2017 Asian Medical Journals. All Rights Reserved.