Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty: effect of the surgical procedure on corneal optics.

PURPOSE: To determine the changes in corneal optical performance after posterior lamellar corneal transplantation.

DESIGN: Retrospective case series.

METHODS: The anterior segment in four eyes of four patients who underwent Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty (DSEK) with cataract extraction and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation were imaged with the Visante anterior segment optical coherence tomography [OCT] (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, California, USA). The curvature of the posterior surface of the donor graft was compared with that of the host cornea, and corneal thickness was measured.

RESULTS: All eyes had a hyperopic refractive error after surgery. The posterior corneal curvature after surgery was more than that before surgery. Average preoperative keratometry was 43.4 diopters (D), and after surgery, it was 42.8 D using keratometry. However, when the postsurgical corneal power was calculated using the Gaussian optics method, the average value was 40.8 D.

CONCLUSIONS: The addition of a donor corneal graft to the posterior surface of decompensated corneas may lessen the effective optical power of the cornea and may have implications for IOL power calculations in these eyes.