Determination of the aqueous humor volume by three-dimensional mapping of the anterior chamber

In this study involving 12 patients planned for routine cataract surgery, we used the topography of the anterior chamber depth and the corneal diameter obtained from Orbscan II data to calculate the aqueous humor volume. Prior to the surgical procedure, a small amount of fluorescein was injected into the anterior chamber and an aqueous humor sample was taken, from which the aqueous humor volume could be calculated by fluorometry. The volumes obtained from Orbscan II data were validated by the fluorometric measurements and compared to three theoretical formulas for aqueous humor volume calculation. The aqueous humor volume calculations based on the Orbscan II data aligned better to the fluorometric values (R(2) = 0.890) than the values obtained by Heim's formula (R(2) = 0.677), Brubaker's formula (R(2) = 0.671), and Schenker's formula (R(2) = 0.585), or the assumption of a constant aqueous humor volume.