Corneal spherical aberration of eyes with cataract in a Japanese population.

Abstract To investigate the distribution of corneal spherical aberration in Japanese eyes with cataract for implantation of aspheric intraocular lenses (IOLs). Corneal spherical aberration (Zernike coefficient Z04) in the central 6-mm zone was measured with a wavefront analyzer (KR9000PW, Topcon) in 257 eyes of 168 Japanese patients with cataract. Axial length was also measured for each eye. Mean corneal spherical aberration was 0.203+/-0.100 microm (range: -0.103 to 0.497 microm). A significant negative correlation was found between axial length and corneal spherical aberration (r =/-0.135, P=.036). Corneal spherical aberration varied among cataract patients and correlated with axial length. Japanese patients showed a relatively smaller corneal spherical aberration than previous studies of Caucasians. Preoperative measurement of wavefront aberrations is thus important in using aspheric IOLs.