Effect of silicone oil removal on central corneal thickness.

AIM:To evaluate the effect of silicone oil removal(SOR) on central corneal thickness(CCT) in aphakic and pseudophakic eyes prospectively. METHODS:Patients who underwent SOR surgery between June 2005 - August 2007 were included in this study. Silicon oil was actively removed behind the posterior capsule through the pars plana sclerotomy site (posterior approach) in pseudophakic eyes and through the pupil and the corneal tunnel incision (anterior approach) in aphakic eyes with the 18-gauge cannula. CCT was assessed with Orbscan II corneal topography system preoperatively and at one month and three months postoperatively. A total of 34 eyes of 34 patients (26 males, 8 females) comprised the study group. Mean age was (55.6±12.3) years (Range: 25-80 years). Twenty-six eyes (76.5%) were pseudophakic and 8 (23.5%) aphakic. Mean time between silicone oil injection and removal was (15.1±13.6) months (Range: 5-54 months). At baseline, CCT was 576.4±46.0µm in pseudophakic eyes and 611.6±36.2µm in aphakic eyes. RESULTS:At the first postoperative month CCT was (573.3±40.1)µm and (630.9±72.9)µm in pseudophakic and aphakic eyes respectively. At the third postoperative month, CCT was (582.7±49.5)µm and (614.5±82.4)µm in pseudophakic and aphakic eyes respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in CCT measurements one month and 3 months after SOR when compared to preoperative values in both aphakic and pseudophakic eyes (P>0.05). CONCLUSION:Active SOR either by anterior or posterior approach did not affect the CCT.