Quantifying long-term wound healing

What are the long-term wound-healing changes in clear corneal cataract incisions? US researchers used Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) in a series of eyes that had phacoemulsification one day to 180 months previously. The incision midpoint was measured with OCT.  They found that Descemet’s membrane detachment occurred in 37.1 per cent of eyes one day postoperatively and in 4.5 per cent of eyes at one to three months (P=.005). It was absent after three months. Posterior wound gape appeared in 85.7 per cent of eyes at one day and in 31.8 per cent at one to three months (P<.001); it was absent after three months. Posterior wound retraction appeared in 33.3 per cent of eyes at two to three weeks, in 75.0 per cent at one to three years, and in 90.5 per cent after three years (P<.001). The mean wound retraction was 120 μm, which was 7.5 per cent of the radial incision length.

L Wang et al., JCRS, “Healing changes in clear corneal cataract incisions evaluated using Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography,†660-665.