Biometric Analysis of Adult Cataract Surgery Candidates in Shanghai, China

This cross-sectional study aimed to describe the variation in ocular biometry and investigate the relationship among the parameters of the adult cataract surgery candidates at the Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. The study included 1975 cataract patients (1975 eyes) aged from 18 to 95 years old. Axial length (AL), corneal curvature, anterior chamber depth (ACD) and horizontal corneal diameter (white-to-white [WTW] distance) were optically measured by partial coherence interferometry (IOL Master). Spearman rank correlation coefficients were used to evaluate bivariate correlations. The average AL and the mean corneal curvature were 24.86 ± 2.72 mm and 44.13 ± 1.58 D, respectively. The mean ACD and WTW were 3.11 ± 0.50 mm and 11.83 ± 0.42 mm, respectively. The mean corneal curvature was negatively correlated with AL, especially in the range of AL from 22 mm to 25 mm, while ACD and WTW were positively correlated with AL. However, the correlation coefficient between AL and WTW was relatively low. Slight corneal astigmatism, especially against-the-rule (ATR) astigmatism, was common in cataract patients. Corneal curvature seemed to be relatively flat to compensate for the long axial length achieving the emmetropic state in limited range. Corneal expansion was limited with the increasing of axial length.