Performance of femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery in Chinese patients with cataract: a prospective, multicenter, registry study

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the completion rate, visual performance, and adverse outcomes of femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery (FLACS) in Chinese patients. METHODS: This is a prospective, single-arm, multicenter registry study of 19 cataract surgery clinics in China. Chinese patients with cataract who underwent FLACS using the Alcon LenSx® laser system in single eye (n = 1140) or both eyes (n = 201) were enrolled and data were collected between March 2015 and August 2016. Clinical characteristics were recorded before surgery, and on postoperative days 1, 7, and 30. For surgery on both eyes, the second eye was included in the analysis only if it was operated within 30 days after the first eye surgery. The primary outcome was the completion rate of circular anterior capsulotomy. Secondary outcomes for lens fragmentation, corneal incision, and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation included best corrected distance visual acuity (BCDVA) and completion rates. Adverse events (AEs) were recorded. RESULTS: The completion rates of circular anterior capsulotomy, lens fragmentation, corneal incision, and IOL implantation were 98.6% (95% CI: 97.8–99.1%), 99.5% (95% CI: 99.1–99.8%), 97.6% (95% CI: 96.7–98.3%), and 100% (95% CI: 99.8–100%), respectively. BCDVA preoperatively and at postoperative day 30 were 1.134 ± 0.831 logMAR and 0.158 ± 0.291 logMAR, respectively. The proportion of eyes with BCDVA of 20/20 or better was 1.6% at baseline and 41.3% at postoperative day 30. AE incidence was 0.32%, with posterior capsule rupture present in 0.19% of eyes. CONCLUSION: FLACS using the LenSx® laser system can achieve satisfactory results in a real-world setting. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12886-019-1079-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.