Objective Changes in the Contralateral Eye after Unilateral Cataract Surgery

Purpose: This study evaluated the objective changes in the contralateral eye after unilateral cataract surgery.

Methods: The study was designed as retrospective observational study. It included 44 patients who underwent unilateral cataract surgery. Collected data were uncorrected and corrected visual acuity, spherical equivalent (S.E.), intraocular pressure (IOP), contrast sensitivity (CS), stereoacuity, and anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) parameters. Data were collected pre-operatively, 1-week post-operatively, and 1-month post-operatively for each eye.

Results: Following unilateral cataract surgery, the pupil size of the fellow eye decreased from 3.46 mm to 3.17 mm (1-week) and 3.08 mm (1-month) post-surgery (p=0.003 and p<0.001, respectively). Anterior chamber depth (ACD) of the fellow eye increased significantly from 3.16 mm to 3.27 mm (1-week) and 3.26 mm (1-month) post-surgery (p=0.005 and p=0.001, respectively). Uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) of the fellow eye improved significantly at 1-week and 1-month post-surgery (p=0.042 and p=0.044, respectively). Change of UDVA of the fellow eye at 1-month was significantly correlated with that of the treated eye (p=0.039).

Conclusions: Anterior chamber structures changed and UDVA improved in the contralateral eye after unilateral cataract surgery in our cohort. Because fellow eyes were positively affected by monocular cataract surgery, it would be good information if planning for unilateral cataract surgery due to inevitable reasons.