Intraocular pressure and anterior chamber depth before and after extracapsular cataract extraction with posterior chamber lens implantation.

Long-term intraocular pressure (IOP) was evaluated in 41 glaucoma patients after extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) with posterior chamber lens (PC-IOL) implantation. All patients were initially monitored for a mean of 19 days. Eight failed to return for reexamination, but follow up of the other 33 continued for a mean of 12 months. IOP dropped significantly and the need for medication was reduced in all patients (particularly in those with open-angle glaucoma and prior iridotomy and iris suturing). The reduction in pressure remained significant in patients with simple or exfoliation glaucoma even after long-term observation. Pressure also significantly dropped in patients who had undergone previous ophthalmic surgery. The pressure drop was possibly due to a surgical deepening of the chamber angle. (Using the laser tomographic scanner, we found the same phenomenon in 50 patients without glaucoma: following ECCE/PC-IOL, the anterior chamber angle widened 9.3 +/- 4.3 degrees.)