Effect of femtosecond laser-assisted lens surgery on the optic nerve head and the macula

AIM: To evaluate the effect of femtosecond laser-assisted lens surgery(FLALS;cataract surgery or refractive lens exchange) on the structure of the optic nerve head and the macula.METHODS: This prospective longitudinal study included healthy eyes undergoing FLALS. Eyes with glaucoma or any other ocular disease that could alter optical coherence tomography results were excluded. Retinal nerve fiber layer(RNFL), Bruch’s membrane opening-minimum rim width(BMO-MRW) and macular thickness(MT) were measured preoperatively, 1 and 6 mo after surgery using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography(SD-OCT). Changes between preoperative and postoperative values were evaluated.RESULTS: A total of 87 eyes of 46 patients were included in this study. Preoperative RNFL, BMO-MRW and MT in microns(μm) were 100.77±10.39, 330.31±49.99 and 276.30±33.39, respectively. Postoperative RNFL, BMO-MRW and MT were 104.74±11.55, 348.32±54.05 and 279.83±22.65 1 mo after surgery and 102.93±11.17, 343.11±53.4 and 278.90±22.19 6 mo after surgery, respectively;which equals an increase of 3.93%, 5.45% and 1.27%,respectively, 1 mo after surgery, and 2.14%, 3.87% and 0.94% 6 mo after surgery. The differences between the preoperative and the postoperative RNFL and BMO-MRW values were statistically significant(P<0.001). Regarding MT values, there were not statistically significant differences(P=0.26).CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that FLALS does not have a negative impact on the structural status of the optic nerve head in healthy eyes, assessed by SD-OCT. There is a slight increase in the values of RNFL, BMO-MRW and MT 1 mo and 6 mo after surgery.