AIM: To apply optical coherence tomography(OCT)in the detection of retinal nerve fiber layer(RNFL)thickness in senile cataract patients and to analyze the changes of RNFL and the correlation with the patient's visual acuity after phacoemulsification.

METHODS: Fifty-one senile cataract patients(70 eyes)received the phacoemulsification. The patients were divided into diabetes mellitus(DM)group and non-DM group. There were 30 cases(38 eyes)in non-DM group and 21 cases(32 eyes)in DM group. After treatments, OCT was applied to detect the patients' RNFL thickness at different time periods(at 3, 14d, 1, 3 and 6mo after treatments). At different time periods, RNFL thickness was detected to analyze its correlation with the best corrected visual acuity(BCVA).

RESULTS: At 3 and 14d after treatments, RNFL thickness of non-DM group was not different from that of DM group(P>0.05); at 3 and 6mo after treatments, RNFL thickness of non-DM group was smaller than that of DM group(P<0.05); the uncorrected visual acuity of the two groups before treatments had no statistical significant differences compared with those at 3,14d and 1mo postoperatively(P>0.05); the uncorrected visual acuity of DM group at 3, 6mo postoperatively was significantly lower than those of non-DM group(P<0.05); at 14d, 1 and 3mo after treatments, the RNFL thickness of non-DM group was negatively correlated with the patient's visual acuity(P<0.05); at 14d, 1, 3 and 6mo after treatments, RNFL thickness of DM group was negatively correlated with the patient's visual acuity(P<0.05).

CONCLUSION: OCT is a good detecting parameter for the change of RNFL thickness and the change of RNFL thickness is an important cause of the changes of the patient's visual acuity.