Introduction: Phacoemulsification was introduced by Kelman in 1967. It is one of the most important innovations in ophthalmology. This has now been accepted as gold standard surgical procedure for management of cataract. Divide and conquer technique, described by Gimbel, was the first nucleofractis cracking technique developed. Phoc-chop technique was presented by Kunihiro Nagahara in 1993 at the meeting of America Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Aim: To compare the Central Corneal Thickness (CCT) and endothelial cell density after phacoemulsification by ‘phaco-chop’ and ‘divide and conquer’ techniques. Materials and Methods: The study included 100 patients divided into two groups, each including 50 patients; Group A, where Divide and Conquer was performed, and in Group B Phaco-chop was performed. The mean Absolute PhacoTime (APT), mean Endothelial Cell Count (ECC), mean Endothelial Cell Loss (ECL), corneal thickness and the visual acuity were reported in the two groups both preoperative and postoperative. Results: The mean APT in group A was 27.12±10.15 seconds, and in group B was 16.58±5.11 seconds (p=0.0001). The mean ECC at sixth week postoperative in group A was 2102. 14 cells/mm2 and in group B it was 2365.38 cells/mm2 (p=0.003). There was statistically significant ECL following sixth week postoperatively 16.22% in divide and conquer group and 8.51% in phaco-chop group (p-value=0.0001). A significant increase in the CCT was observed at the immediate postoperative week among the two studied groups; 3.16% in group A and 2.34% in group B, which was statistically significant. The postoperative CCT pachymetry values were returned to near preoperative values at one and a half months postoperative. Conclusion: The phaco-chop technique utilises less phaco time and energy without significant effect on the final surgical outcome. Significant and equal ECL occurs after the two studied techniques. APT and nuclear grade have a positive correlation with higher ECL. CCT increases significantly and equally postoperatively following the two techniques.
BACKGROUND Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is one of the causes of evaporative dry eye disease. It is the terminal duct obstruction of the Meibomian gland and is associated with glandular secretion changes. These changes lead to decreased amount of lipids secretion which accounts for instability of tear film leading to evaporative dry eye disease. Chronic smoking also causes irritative, burning eyes along with unstable tear film. We wanted to study the corelation of chronic smoking with Meibomian gland dysfunction. METHODS This is a hospital based observational cross-sectional study that enrolled a total of 100 subjects having Meibomian gland disease (MGD), out of whom 61 were smokers and 39 were non-smokers. All enrolled subjects underwent tear film breakup time (TBUT), Schirmer I test (SIT) and slit-lamp microscope examination of lid margin abnormalities, Meibomian gland expression as well as meibum. RESULTS Our study found that the patients with Meibomian gland dysfunction with the history of chronic smoking had a remarkably decreased value of tear film break up time (TBUT), Schirmer’s 1 Test which explains the dry eye symptoms as compared to MGD patients without smoking. No significant differences were seen in lid margin irregularity and meibum secretion. Meibomitis is found in 29 smokers with MGD and 5 non-smokers with MGD which is not significant. CONCLUSIONS Chronic smoking is associated with MGD. KEY WORDS Cigarette Smoking, Meibomian Gland Dysfunction, Tear Film Tests
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