Corneal Endothelial Cell Loss During Uneventful Cataract Surgery in Hispanics Versus Non-Hispanics

Limited information exists on the possible effects of ethnicity on corneal endothelial cell parameters and their changes during cataract surgery. Thus, we evaluated corneal endothelial cell density (ECD) and endothelial cell loss (ECL) during surgery for senile cataract in Hispanic and non-Hispanic White adults.

This retrospective study included 312 eyes of 227 patients ≥50 years who underwent phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation for senile cataract. Preoperatively and 1 to 2 months after surgery, specular microscopy was performed to measure ECD, coefficient of variation (CV), and hexagonal cell percentage (HEX). Regression analysis was used to compare baseline values as well as surgery-related changes in corneal endothelial cell parameters between Hispanic and non-Hispanic patients considering demographics, biometric parameters, and intraoperative cumulative dissipated energy (CDE).

There were 109 Hispanics and 118 non-Hispanics. Anterior chamber depth (ACD) was significantly lower in Hispanics (3.12±0.36 mm) compared with non-Hispanics (3.25±0.37 mm, P =0.009). There were no significant differences in baseline ECD between Hispanics (2,547±365 cells/mm 2 ) and non-Hispanics (2,483±380 cells/mm 2 , P =0.17). There were also no significant differences in ECL (16.8%±17.0% vs. 17.4%±18.1%, P =0.46), increase in CV (3.8%±20.7% vs. 1.5%±21.6%, P =0.51), and decrease in HEX (-2.7%±8.5% vs. -1.8%±7.0%, P =0.33) between these two groups. Regression analysis showed that ECL was associated with a shallower ACD ( P =0.003), a higher CDE ( P <0.001), but not with ethnicity ( P =0.46).

There are no significant differences in ECD and ECL between Hispanics and non-Hispanics undergoing cataract surgery. Although Hispanics have a shallower ACD, the ethnic difference seems to be clinically insignificant.