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Purpose:  To compare the corneal endothelial cells morphology and central corneal thickness (CCT) before and after phacoemulsification in Sudanese population. Place and Duration of Study:  Al-Neelain eye hospital, Khartoum, Sudan, from January 2018 to May 2018. Study Design:  Observational longitudinal study. Methods:  One hundred and forty eyes of 140 patients with immature senile cataract were selected by convenient sampling. The age ranged from 40 to 85 years. The patients underwent complete ocular examination including morphology of corneal endothelial cells and CCT using computerized non-contact specular microscope. Inclusion criteria for the study was eyes with normal corneal endothelial cells and cell density more than 1000 cells/mm2. We excluded patients with ocular or systemic diseases, previous history of intraocular surgery, refractive surgery or trauma as well as contact lenses wear. The patients underwent phacoemulsification by a single surgeon. The examination parameters were repeated one month after surgery. Descriptive and comparative statistical analyses were performed using SPSS for Windows Version 21.0. Results:  There was significant reduction in mean endothelial cells density after phacoemulsification compared to baseline with p < 0.001. There was also significant post-operative reduction in mean endothelial cells number as compared to baseline (P value < 0.001). Mean endothelial cells hexagonality was reduced after surgery with P value of 0.003. No significant difference was found between mean coefficient variation of endothelial cells size before and after phacoemulsification (P = 0.55). Central corneal thickness showed significant increase post-operatively, P = 0.003. Conclusion:  Phacoemulsification causes significant damage to corneal endothelium cells, including decrease in corneal endothelial cell density, hexagonality and cell number. Key Words:  Corneal endothelium, Endothelial cell density, Central corneal thickness, Phacoemulsification.

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Terfizia claveryi was examined for in vitro antibacterial activity using the disc diffusion, well diffusion method, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). T. claveryi exhibited excellent antibacterial activity against all clinical isolates of corneal ulcer tested, especially against Pseudomonas aeruginosa which showed the maximum antibacterial activity with mean zone of inhibition 20.33 mm at concentration of 100 mg/ml. The MIC for Staphylococcus aureus ranged from 0.040-1.250 mg/ml and MBC for Escherichia coli was 75 μl/ml. In the present study, the MIC value of the active aqueous extract were lower than the MBC values suggesting that, T. claveryi aqueous extracts were bacteriostatic at lower concentration but bactericidal at higher concentration. Also, the bacterial zone of inhibition increased with the increasing concentration of T. claveryi aqueous extract. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report for the novel antibacterial activity of T. claveryi aqueous extract. This active compound may be used as alternative therapeutic drug for the control of corneal infections. However, further research is needed to examine its in vivo mechanism of action, toxicity, and therapeutic effect.