Endothelial Cell Loss Rate Following Penetrating Keratoplasty: Optical versus Therapeutic Grafts

Abstract

he importance of corneal disease as the second major cause of blindness worldwide (second only to cataract) is unquestionable. Its epidemiology is complicated and encompasses a wide variety of infectious and inflammatory eye diseases. Penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) involves surgical removal of the diseased or damaged cornea from the host and its replacement by a full thickness donor cornea. The major goals of PKP are to improve visual acuity, maintain the integrity of the eye, and treat various corneal infections. The aim of our study was to compare the rate of endothelial cell loss (ECL) following penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) for optical and therapeutic indications. The study enrolled two groups; group 1 included 30 corneas of 30 patients which performed optical PKP for various purposes, while group 2 comprised 30 corneas of 30 patients which were planned for performing therapeutic PKP for un-healed, resistant corneal infections. The mean patients’ age in group 1 and 2 was 43.70 ± 14.79 and 47.27 ± 14.51 years, respectively. The female to male ratio for group 1 was 1:1.33 and for group 2 was 1:1.42, and the percentage of right to left eyes was 44.9% to 55.1% for group 1 and 54.3% to 45.7% for group 2. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups regarding any of these demographic parameters.