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Intrastromal corneal ring after PK causes no reduction in postop astigmatism
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The use of an intrastromal corneal ring after penetrating keratoplasty failed to reduce postoperative astigmatism and was associated with adverse events, a study found.
The prospective, randomized study included 20 patients with either Fuchs’ endothelial dystrophy or keratoconus. Ten patients received the corneal ring while the remaining 10 constituted a control group.
Complications included graft rejection, suture ruptures, the ring crossing forward through the stroma and one penetrating injury with deflection of the ring and need for resuturing. Three immune reactions were observed in three of the patients who received the corneal ring, whereas the control group experienced no immune reactions.
“The intrastromal corneal ring failed to meet our expectations regarding the attenuation of postoperative astigmatism after penetrating keratoplasty,” the study authors said. “We observed several ring-associated complications in the ring group and statistically significantly more immune reactions than in the control group.”
Orbscan topography (Bausch + Lomb) revealed a mean astigmatism of 4.4 D for both groups. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of endothelial cell loss.