Wavefront Aberrometry in Pseudophakic Patients Before and After Vitrectomy for Bothersome Floaters.

Introduction

To investigate whether the outcome of patients with persistent bothersome floaters who are managed with vitrectomy can be correlated with improvements in higher-order aberrations with wavefront aberrometry.

Methods

Pseudophakic patients who had 27-gauge vitrectomy for persistent floaters and whose clinical assessment included preoperative and postoperative wavefront aberrometry were included. The primary outcome was the change in the higher-order aberration percentage measured by wavefront aberrometry.

Results

The study included 76 eyes of 66 patients with a mean age (±SD) of 67.8 ± 7.5 years. The Snellen visual acuity improved from 20/32 preoperatively to 20/25 postoperatively (P = .004). Wavefront aberrometry showed a highly significant reduction in the higher-order aberration percentage (P < .000001), with a mean preoperative percentage of 53.9 and a mean postoperative percentage of 38.3. Subgroup analysis found a significant reduction in patients with no previous posterior capsulotomy (P = .001), previous neodymium:YAG capsulotomy (P < .000001), a monofocal intraocular lens (IOL) (P < .000001), and a multifocal IOL (P = .006). There was no significant difference in the mean preoperative and postoperative pupil size, sphere, cylinder, or spherical equivalent.

Conclusions

Wavefront aberrometry demonstrates an objective, significant reduction in higher-order aberrations immediately after vitrectomy in pseudophakic patients with bothersome floaters.