Dr. B.A. MAITHRI, Dr.Nivean M, Dr.Murali Ariga
The video shows how we were able to do phacoemulsification in a nanophthalmic eye.The left eye had IOL power of 37D(AL-15.40) and the right 40 D(AL-15.47). There was difficulty in maneuvering the phaco probe inside a shallow anterior chamber.The custom made thicker IOL also created problems due to its high power. Even though the postoperative result was very satisfactory , the decreased maneuverability in anterior chamber put us at risk for endothelial damage and posterior capsular rent. Keeping this in mind we did the second case by doing an anterior vitrectomy. The phacoemulsification was easier and much safer when doing an anterior vitrectomy than the other eye of the patient.
Even though our experience is based on very small sample size of patients, we feel it is much easier to do phacoemulsification if it can be combined with anterior vitrectomy in such cases as debulking the vitreous puts us at lesser risk of suprachoroidal hemorrhage, that’s common in a nanophthalmic eye.


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