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Light scatter associated with penetrating keratoplasty may lead to contrast vision loss
Am J Ophthalmol. 2008;146(6):913-919.
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Patients who have penetrating keratoplasty performed on their eyes may be at increasing risk over time for loss of visual acuity due to corneal backscatter. Corneal backscatter, measured by a custom scatterometer, was increased in a population of patients with late endothelial failure compared with patients with clear grafts; corneal backscatter was also increased in patients with clear grafts compared with patients who did not undergo PK.
In both analyses, backscatter was increased in three aspects of the cornea: anterior, middle and posterior thirds of the cornea. Backscatter increased with the age of the graft and was associated with a decrease in visual acuity.
“In the present study, we were able to demonstrate correlations between corneal backscatter, forward light scatter for the whole eye and vision, possibly because of the higher scattering conditions compared with normal. Because we excluded other sources of light scatter, such as eyes with cataracts, the penetrating graft was the source of increased forward light scatter in our study,” the study said.