Relationship between the main components of the crystalline lens and the anterior chamber depth after cataract formation

PURPOSE: To assess the relationship between anterior chamber depth (ACD) and lens thickness (LT), as well as its three main components (anterior and posterior cortex and nucleus thickness), in cataractous and non-cataractous eyes, depending on the axial length (AxL). METHODS: Anterior and posterior cortex and nucleus thickness of the crystalline lens, ACD, and AxL were measured using optical low-coherence reflectometry in cataractous and non-cataractous eyes. They were also classified into hyperopia, emmetropia, myopia, and high myopia, depending on AxL; thus, eight subgroups were created. A minimum sample size of 44 eyes (of 44 patients) for each group was recruited. Linear models were fitted for the whole sample and each AxL subgroup to assess if there were differences in the relationships between the crystalline lens variables and ACD, including age as a covariate. RESULTS: Three hundred seventy cataract patients (237 females, 133 males) and 250 non-cataract controls (180 females, 70 males), aged 70.5 ± 9.4 and 41.9 ± 15.5 years, respectively, were recruited. The mean AxL, ACD, and LT for the cataractous and non-cataractous eyes were 23.90 ± 2.05, 24.11 ± 2.11, 2.64 ± 0.45, and 2.91 ± 0.49, 4.51 ± 0.38, 3.93 ± 0.44 mm, respectively. The inverse relationship of LT, anterior and posterior cortex, and nucleus thickness with ACD was not significantly (p ≥ 0.26) different between cataractous and non-cataractous eyes. Further subclassification of the sample depending on AxL showed that the inverse relationship between the posterior cortex and ACD was no longer significant (p > 0.05) for any non-cataractous AxL group. LT, anterior and posterior cortex, and nucleus thickness was not significantly (p ≥ 0.43) different between cataractous and non-cataractous eyes for the whole sample, and all AxL groups after adjusting for age. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of cataracts does not modify the inverse relationship of the LT, anterior and posterior cortex, and nucleus with ACD. And this relationship does not seem to depend importantly on AxL. Besides, the possible differences in LT, anterior and posterior cortex, and nucleus between cataractous and non-cataractous eyes may not be caused by lens opacification, but possibly by the progressive lens growth due to aging. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00417-023-06080-7.