Purpose: To evaluate the clinical outcomes of repeat endothelial keratoplasty after Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK).
Methods: This retrospective study included 38 patients who underwent endothelial keratoplasty twice (initial and repeat DSAEKs) due to graft failure and 215 patients who underwent solitary DSAEK between 2007 and 2011 at the Department of Ophthalmology, Ichikawa General Hospital, Tokyo Dental College. We compared graft survival rates and postoperative complications among three groups; initial, repeat, and solitary DSAEK groups. We also compared best-spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA) and endothelial cell density (ECD) between the repeat and solitary DSAEK groups up to 12 months after surgery.
Results:There were no significant differences in graft survival rate between the repeat and solitary DSAEK groups (p>0.05), whereas the graft survival rate of the initial DSAEK group was significantly lower than that of the other two groups (p<0.05). There were no significant differences in BSCVA and ECD between the repeat and solitary DSAEK groups (p>0.05). There were no significant differences in postoperative complications among the three groups (p>0.05).
Conclusion: Graft survival rate, BSCVA, ECD, and postoperative complications of the repeat DSAEK group were almost equivalent to those of the solitary DSAEK group, suggesting that repeat DSAEK is a safe and effective procedure even in eyes with failed DSAEK graft.
Nippon Ganka Gakkai Zasshi (J Jpn Ophthalmol Soc) 121: 864-870, 2017.