2.3. Surgical Technique. All cataract surgeries were performed
using the phacoemulsification technique and the insertion
of a foldable hydrophilic acrylic intraocular lens (AcrySof
IQ IOL, Alcon, Inc.) in the capsular bag. A total of 0.3 mg
TobraDex ointment (tobramycin 0.3% and dexamethasone
0.1%, Alcon, Inc.) was used at the end of the surgery in all
patients. All patients were instructed to administer TobraDex
eye drops (tobramycin 0.3% and dexamethasone 0.1%, Alcon,
Inc.) 4 times daily for 2 weeks after surgery and 2 times daily
until 4 weeks after cataract surgery. In addition, all patients
were instructed to administer 0.1% Diclofenac sodium eye
drops 4 times daily for 4 weeks after surgery. All patients were
followed for at least 4 weeks after surgery.
2.4. Aqueous Humor Sampling. At the time of cataract surgery,
a sterile lid speculum was placed, and a sterile tuberculin
syringe was placed in the temporal limbal quadrant. Once
inserted, undiluted aqueous humor samples (0.1-0.2 mL)
were aspirated into a syringe. The samples were immediately
frozen and stored at −80∘
C until analysis.
2.5. Postoperative Evaluation. Postoperative follow-up visits
were scheduled for 1 day and 4 weeks after cataract surgery.
The following assessments were performed 1 day after cataract
surgery: BCVA, slit lamp-assisted biomicroscopy, fundus
examination, and IOP. The following assessments were performed
4 weeks after cataract surgery: BCVA, slit lampassisted
biomicroscopy, IOP, fundus examination, and OCT.
2.6. Definition of PostoperativeMacular Edema. Macular edema
was defined as an increase in the center point thickness of
more than 30% from preoperative baseline on OCT 4 weeks
after cataract surgery [5, 17]. All patients were divided into
either the macular edema group [ME (+)] or nonmacular
edema group [ME (−)].
2.7. Multiplex Analysis of Cytokines in Aqueous Humors. The
Bio-Plex ProTM magnetic color bead-based multiplex assay
(Bio-Plex Human Cytokine 27-plex panel; Bio-Rad, Hercules,
CA) was used to measure the concentrations of
twenty-seven human aqueous humor cytokines: interleukin-
1