Comparison of Outcomes in Patients Who Underwent Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty and Those Converted to Penetrating Keratoplasty

Abstract

Objectives: To compare clinical outcomes of cases who underwent deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) and cases who wereconverted to penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) from DALK surgery.Materials and Methods: The records of 54 patients for whom DALK surgery was planned and were operated for different diagnosesbetween March 2013 and June 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into two groups: group 1 (PKP group)consisted of 23 cases who were converted to PKP due to Descemet’s membrane perforation at any stage of surgery; group 2 (DALKgroup) consisted of 31 patients whose surgery could be completed as DALK. Preoperative and postoperative follow-up results wereevaluated in each group.Results: Corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) increased in the postoperative period according to baseline in both groups. However,there was no statistically significant difference in the rates of CDVA increase between the groups (p=0.142). The mean astigmatismmeasured by corneal topography at final examination was 5.8±2.3 diopters in group 1 and 5.4±1.8 diopters in group 2. The differencebetween groups was not statistically significant (p=0.430). The groups were not statistically different regarding postoperative pachymetry(p=0.453). The grafts in all 54 patients (100%) were clear at final postoperative examination. There were no statistically significantdifferences between the groups in terms of postoperative complications.Conclusion: Similar clinical outcomes were obtained in our study for patients who underwent DALK and those whose procedure wasconverted from DALK to PKP.