Prevention of posterior capsule opacification by retinoic acid and mitomycin.

Background: Our aim was to evaluate the effect of an intraoperative single dose of retinoic acid (RA) or mitomycin C (MMC) in preventing posterior capsule opacification (PCO).

Methods: Twenty-seven rabbits were divided randomly into three groups. RA (250 microg/ml) and MMC (0.04 mg/ml) were given 0.1 ml by hydrosection and 0.9 ml into the capsular bag after phacoemulsification. The third group served as a control group. Three months after intervention PCO was graded clinically. Furthermore, proliferation of lens epithelial cells was evaluated histologically.

Results: Two eyes developed corneal edema in the MMC group. On clinical assessment, RA and MMC were significantly effective in preventing PCO compared with controls (P<0.005). On histological analysis, there was significantly reduced proliferative activity on posterior capsules in the treatment groups, in contrast to multilayer cells in the control group.

Conclusion: Intraoperative single-dose administration of RA and MMC significantly prevented the development of PCO in rabbit eyes. The optimal biocompatible dosage must be carefully determined by further investigation.