[Cataract surgery using phacoemulsification]

Clinical results are reported in a consecutive series of 111 patients undergoing cataract surgery by phacoemulsification. On the first day after surgery, 69% of all cases had a visual acuity of 20/40 or better without any spectacle correction. Four months later this percentage had increased to 79%. Compared with a series of patients, operated by conventional extracapsular extraction, the corneal astigmatism was found to be significantly reduced in the phacoemulsification series (p < 0.001). The decrease in surgically induced astigmatism together with tailoring of the power of the intraocular lens (IOL) accounted for the good unaided visual acuity in the phacoemulsification group. Phacoemulsification is concluded to offer good optical control of the postoperative refraction in cataract patients.