PURPOSE
To describe a corneal endothelial layer and Descemet membrane transplantation into the anterior chamber for the treatment of bullous keratopathy in 1980.
METHODS
A retrospective report of an interventional case study is presented. A patient with aphakic bullous keratopathy in one eye was interested in undergoing a previously untested corneal transplantation procedure. Snellen visual acuity testing and slit-lamp examination were performed. The main outcome measures were visual acuity and degree of corneal clarity.
RESULTS
Visual acuity and corneal clarity improved in the months following the endothelial/Descemet membrane transplant but gradually returned to preoperative levels 1 year later. A subsequent successful penetrating keratoplasty resulted in excellent visual acuity (~20/25).
CONCLUSIONS
An attempt to perform endothelial and Descemet membrane transplantation for aphakic corneal edema in 1980 resulted in early improvement in corneal clarity and visual acuity but required full penetrating keratoplasty at 2 years postoperatively. [J Refract Surg. 2010;26(7):525-528.]
AUTHORS
From St Mary’s Eye Center, Santa Monica (Hoffer); and the University of California Los Angeles (Hoffer, Hofbauer), California.
The authors have no proprietary interest in the materials presented herein.
Correspondence: Kenneth J. Hoffer, MD, FACS, St Mary’s Eye Center, 411 Lincoln Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90402. Tel: 310.451.2020; Fax: 310.395.5947; E-mail: KHofferMD@AOL.com
Received: March 3, 2009; Accepted: July 23, 2009
Posted online: September 15, 2009
doi:10.3928/1081597X-20090910-01
