You are seeing this message because your Web browser does not support basic Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing and what you can do to make your experience on this site better.


ABOUT ARCHIVES
Advanced Search

Welcome   | My Account | E-mail Alerts | Access Rights | Sign In


  Vol. 115 No. 1, January 1997 TABLE OF CONTENTS
  Archives
  •  Online Features
  LABORATORY SCIENCES
 This Article
 •References
 •Full text PDF
 •Correction
 • Reply to article
 •Send to a friend
 • Save in My Folder
 •Save to citation manager
 •Permissions
 Citing Articles
 •Citation map
 •Citing articles on HighWire
 •Contact me when this article is cited
 Related Content
 •Similar articles in this journal
 Social Bookmarking
  Add to CiteULike Add to Connotea Add to Del.icio.us Add to Digg Add to Reddit Add to Technorati Add to Twitter What's this?

Corneal Endothelial Damage by Air Bubbles During Phacoemulsification

Eung K. Kim, MD; Stephen M. Cristol, MD, MPH; Dayle H. Geroski, PhD; Bernard E. McCarey, PhD; Henry F. Edelhauser, PhD

Arch Ophthalmol. 1997;115(1):81-88.


Abstract

Objective
To characterize the mechanism by which air bubbles damage the corneal endothelium during phacoemulsification.

Materials and Methods
A series of experiments was conducted to expose the corneal endothelium of New Zealand white rabbit and human eyes that were obtained from an eye bank to air under different conditions. Phacoemulsification at different power settings and irrigation with and without the introduction of air into the anterior chamber were performed. Corneal endothelial perfusion experiments were conducted with air bubbles that were introduced into the perfusion chamber for 2 seconds to 1 hour. Air was also injected into the anterior chambers of anesthetized rabbits for 2 minutes to 3 hours. Corneas were stained with nitrobenzoxadiazole-phallacidin and examined with fluorescence microscopy. Selected corneas were also examined with scanning and transmission electron microscopy.

Results
Intracameral air bubbles during phacoemulsification, irrigation, and perfusion studies resulted in a severe injury to the corneal endothelium in as little as 20 seconds. Intracameral air bubbles in a living rabbit resulted in a slower injury that was morphologically different from the more rapid injury.

Conclusions
Air bubbles in intraocular fluids with a high surface tension can cause a ring-shaped pattern of damage to the corneal endothelium. The mechanism that caused this pattern of damage appears to be a surface tension phenomenon.



Author Affiliations

From the Departments of Ophthalmology, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea (Dr Kim), and Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Ga (Drs Kim, Cristol, Geroski, McCarey, and Edelhauser).



Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter     What's this?


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Torsional ultrasound modality for hard nucleus phacoemulsification cataract extraction
Zeng et al.
Br J Ophthalmol 2008;92:1092-1096.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

A new surgical technique for deep stromal, anterior lamellar keratoplasty
Melles et al.
Br J Ophthalmol 1999;83:327-333.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  





HOME | CURRENT ISSUE | PAST ISSUES | TOPIC COLLECTIONS | CME | SUBMIT | SUBSCRIBE | HELP
CONDITIONS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US | SITE MAP
 
© 1997 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.