Efficacy of various drugs in the prevention of posterior capsule opacification: experimental study of rabbit eyes.

Purpose: To assess the efficacy of various drugs in the prevention of posterior capsule opacification (PCO) in a closed capsular bag technique.

Setting: Ophthalmic Biophysics Center, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA.

Methods: Lens material was removed using phacoaspiration or phacoemulsification through a microcapsulorhexis according to the hardness of the crystalline lens correlated with the weight and age of the rabbits. A mixture of an ophthalmic viscosurgical device (sodium hyaluronate 1.4% [SHA]) and a drug was injected into the empty capsular bag, allowed to remain inside for 3 minutes, and removed. The capsular bag was rinsed with balanced salt solution (BSS) and refilled with SHA. In a group of rabbits, the capsulorhexis was sealed with a minicapsulorhexis valve (MCV). Rabbits were treated with 1 of the following: SHA (control), BSS, mitomycin-C (MMC, 0.2 mg/mL), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) (10 mM and 15 mM), 5-fluorouracil (5-FU, 33 mg/mL), acetic acid (3%, 0.3%, and 0.003%), and distilled water.

Results: Upon completion of the study, the control and treated eyes had PCO and new lens material (not residual). Anterior capsule proliferation was observed in eyes treated with 5-FU. The order of PCO appearance (earliest to latest) was as follows: 15 mM EDTA, SHA, MMC, acetic acid 0.3%, acetic acid 3%, BSS, distilled water (small animals; no MCV), acetic acid 0.003%, 5-FU, 10 mM EDTA, and distilled water (large animals; MCV). The earliest appearance was day 1 postoperatively and the latest, day 47.

Conclusions: Distilled water and 10 mM EDTA treatments were the most efficient in retarding the appearance of PCO.