Abstract
Purpose
To investigate the efficacy of early therapeutic deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) in eradicating fungal keratitis that is poorly responsive to medical treatment.
Patients and methods
Twenty-three eyes (23 patients) underwent early therapeutic DALK within 15 to 50 days from the onset of symptoms. The adopted eligibility criteria for early DALK included the following: active fungal keratitis affecting the optical zone with ulcer confined in the 6.00 mm central cornea; deeper than 150 μm but not exceeding 300 μm; and poorly responsive to medical treatment.
Results
The big bubble technique was accomplished in 74% (17) of eyes, whereas manual dissection was performed in the remaining 26% (6) of eyes. Histopathological examination did not show any sign of fungal colonization in the peripheral and deep stromal lamellae in any case. All grafts were transparent postoperatively, and no recurrence of infection occurred. Median best spectacle corrected visual acuity significantly improved from 2.0 (1.0 interquartile range) logMAR to 0.1 (0.1 interquartile range) logMAR (P<0.01). The mean follow-up was 32±10 months. Neither episode of rejection nor graft failure was noted during the follow-up period.
Conclusion
Early DALK could represent a safe therapeutic approach to eradicate fungal keratitis that affects the optical zone and is poorly responsive to medical treatment.
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Sabatino, F., Sarnicola, E., Sarnicola, C. et al. Early deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty for fungal keratitis poorly responsive to medical treatment. Eye 31, 1639–1646 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.2017.228
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.2017.228
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