Prevalence of corneal astigmatism and axial length in cataract surgery candidates in Turkey

Abstract

Objectives. To analyze the corneal astigmatism and axial length values in cataract surgery candidates. Methods.The files of patients who undergone cataract surgery between November 2012 and November 2013 wereretrospectively selected and reviewed. The preoperative corneal keratometry measurements in the flat and steepaxis and the axial lengths of the patients were recorded. Results. The study comprised of 449 eyes of 449patients with a mean age of 68.6±9.8 years. The mean axial length value was 23.1±1.0 mm;mean corneal astigmatism was 1.00±0.70 D. The corneal astigmatism was 1.00 D or less in 315 eyes (70.1%);between 1.00 and 2.00 D in 99 eyes (22%); and 2.00 D or more in 35 eyes (8%). With-the-rule astigmatismwas present in 51% of the patients, against-the-rule astigmatism was present in 32% of the patients, and obliqueastigmatism was present in 17% of the patients. We observed an increase in against-the-rule astigmatism(p=0.032) and oblique astigmatism with age (p=0.040). Conclusions. The current study is the most populousstudy in this field of research ever carried out in our country. The mean axial length in our study in comparisonto Chinese and German populations was found to be shorter