Effect of Lens Capsular Tension Ring on Preventing Capsular Contraction Syndrome in the Surgery of Retinitis Pigmentosa Combined with Cataract: Retrospective Case Series

PURPOSE: To observe the effect of phacoemulsification and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation with or without lens capsular tension ring (CTR) on retinitis pigmentosa (RP) combined with cataract patients. DESIGN: Retrospective cases series study. METHODS: 63cases (84 eyes) of RP with cataract were collected including 30 males and 33 females. Phacoemulsification with 3.0mm clear corneal incision was performed in all the patients. IOL+CTR implantation was performed in 44 eyes, and only IOL implantation was performed in 40 eyes. All cases were followed up at 1 week and 1, 3, 6 months after the surgery to compare the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), intraocular pressure (IOP), corneal endothelial cell count and complications before and after the surgery. RESULTS: all surgery were successfully completed by the same physician, and IOL and CTR were all implanted in capsule without complications. The BCVA at 6 months after surgery was 0.91±0.88 LogMAR. It improved a little compared with the BCVA(1.3±0.7LogMAR) before surgery and there was a signifcant difference in statistic(P=0.003). Four cases of capsule contraction syndrome(CCS) occurred in no CTR implantation group and there was no CCS in CTR group. There was signifcant difference in statistic about the incidence of CCS between two groups(P=0.047). CONCLUSIONS: Phacoemulsification for RP combined with cataract is safe and reliable, and CTR implantation is helpful to reduce the complications caused by capsule contraction.