Aims: To compare the changes of central corneal thickness (CCT) and intraocular pressure (IOP) post-phacoemulsification between cataract patients with and without pre-existing glaucoma. Materials and methods: A prospective cohort study of 86 patients with visually significant cataract: 43 with pre-existing glaucoma (GC group) and 43 without pre-existing glaucoma (CO group). CCT and IOP were evaluated at baseline (pre-phacoemulsification), as well as at 2 hours, 1 day, 1 week and 6 weeks post-phacoemulsification. Results: The GC group have significantly thinner CCT pre-operatively (p = 0.003). There was a steady increase of CCT with the highest peak at 1 day post-phacoemulsification, followed by a steady decline of CCT and back to baseline at 6 weeks post-phacoemulsification in both groups. The GC group demonstrated a significant difference in CCT at 2 hours (mean difference 60.2 μm, p = 0.003) and 1 day (mean difference 70.6 μm, p = 0.002) post-phacoemulsification, compared to the CO group. There was a sudden increase in IOP at 2 hours post-phacoemulsification measured by GAT and DCT in both groups. This was followed by a gradual reduction of IOP, with significant reduction at 6 weeks post-phacoemulsification in both groups. However, there was no significant difference in IOP between the two groups. IOP measured by GAT and DCT showed strong correlation (r > 0.75, p < 0.001) in both groups. There was no significant correlation between GAT-IOP and CCT changes; nor between DCT-IOP and CCT changes in both groups. Conclusions: CCT changes post-phacoemulsification in patients with pre-existing glaucoma were similar, in spite of having thinner CCT pre-operatively. IOP measurement was not affected by CCT changes in glaucoma patients post-phacoemulsification. IOP measurement using GAT is comparable with DCT post-phacoemulsification.

Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science School of Medical Sciences Health Campus Universiti Sains Malaysia Kelantan Malaysia

Department of Ophthalmology Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital Perak Malaysia

Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia Kelantan Malaysia

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