Endothelial cell counts following pars plana vitrectomy in pseudophakic and aphakic eyes

In 13 pseudophakic eyes, endothelial cell counts remained stable following pars plana vitrectomy. The posterior chamber pseudophakos apparently had a protective effect on the corneal endothelium, even though the posterior lens capsule was removed during surgery. By contrast, in nine aphakic eyes, a statistically significant (p greater than .05) cell loss of 7.6% occurred after pars plana vitrectomy. We conclude that vitrectomy therefore poses an increased risk to the cornea in aphakic, but not in pseudophakic eyes.