American Journal of Ophthalmology, vol.152, no.5, 2011 (SCI-Expanded)
Purpose: To compare the postoperative macular thickness changes using optical coherence tomography (OCT) in eyes that underwent deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) and penetrating keratoplasty (PKP). Design: Prospective, nonrandomized clinical trial. Methods: Sixty eyes of 60 patients (32 male, 28 female) with keratoconus who underwent corneal transplant surgery in an institutional setting were included in the study. Thirty eyes underwent DALK and 30 eyes underwent PKP. All eyes underwent corrected visual acuity (CVA) measurement and macular thickness measurement using spectral-domain OCT preoperatively, and 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months postoperatively. The main outcome measures were CVA and macular thickness. Results: The DALK group had significantly better mean CVA than that of the PKP group at 1-month (P <.001), 3-month (P =.002), and 6-month (P =.040) follow-ups. The mean macular thickness significantly increased at 1 week after PKP surgery, remained stable at 1-month follow-up, and decreased at 3- and 6-month follow-ups. On the other hand, the mean macular thickness remained stable during 6 months after DALK. Although there was no significant difference between groups preoperatively (P =.970) and at 6-month follow-up (P =.339), the PKP group had significantly higher mean macular thickness than that of the DALK group at 1-week (P <.001), 1-month (P <.001), and 3-month (P =.005) follow-ups. Conclusion: Although mean macular thickness increases and peaks around 1 month and returns back to normal levels at 6 months after PKP surgery, it does not change after DALK. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.