Abstract: Objective To explore the changes of corneal endothelial cells in 5 years after phacoemulsification in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus by corneal endothelial microscope. Design Retrospective case series. Participants 71 cataract patients who were underwent phacoemulsification in Beijing Friendship Hospital from Jan. to Dec. 2008. Methods Cataract patients underwent phacoemulsification were divided into diabetic group (38 cases, 44 eyes) and control group (33 cases, 43 eyes). Routine examinations were done and the parameters of corneal endothelial cells were recorded by corneal endothelial microscope at pre-operation and  five years post-operatively． Main Outcome Measures  Cell density (CD)，average area of endothelial cell (AVE), and coefficient of variation (CV). Results There were no significant differences with respect to the average CD, AVE, and CV at pre-operation between two groups (all P＞0.05).  In diabetic group, the CD was significantly lower, the AVE was significantly higher, and CV was significantly increased in five years post-operatively than at pre-operation (all P＜0.01). In control group, the CV was significantly increased in five years post-operative than in pre-operation (P＜0.01), while there were no significant differences of the average CD and AVE at five years post-operatively from at pre-operation (P＞0.05). After 5 years, the CD of the diabetes group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P＜0.01), and the AVE was significantly higher than that of the control group (P＜0.05), while CV had no significant differences between two groups. Conclusion This small sample retrospective case series study shows that the damage of corneal endothelial cell after phacoemulsification in patients with diabetes are more servere and continue longer time than in normal people and should be followed-up for a long time even more than 5 years.

Key words: cataract, phacoemulsification, corneal endothelial cell, diabetes mellitus