Correlation between keratometric and refractive astigmatism in pseudophakic eyes

PURPOSE: To determine the correlation between refractive and keratometric astigmatism in pseudophakic eyes. SETTING: Vissum Madrid, Madrid, Spain. DESIGN: Case series. METHODS: Consecutive eyes that had phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation during the first quarter of 2003 were evaluated. The refractive and keratometric astigmatism were compared 2 months postoperatively. RESULTS: The mean postoperative keratometric astigmatism (0.91 diopter [D] ± 0.67 [SD]) in the 121 eyes was statistically significantly higher than the mean postoperative refractive astigmatism (0.64 ± 0.72 D) (P<.0001). Regression analysis found a significant correlation between the refractive and keratometric errors of the J0 component (P<.001, r(2) = 0.29) and between the refractive and keratometric errors of the J45 component (P<.001, r(2) = 0.36) CONCLUSION: Keratometric astigmatism was responsible for about 30% of the refractive astigmatism in pseudophakic eyes. Other undetermined factors induce astigmatism in these cases.