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Microkeratome used to perform lamellar keratoplasty
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NUREMBERG, Germany — A microkeratome can be used to remove the anterior layer of the cornea for lamellar keratoplasty, according to a surgeon speaking here.
Prof. Massimo Busin, MD, presented the results of a prospective study evaluating microkeratome-assisted superficial anterior lamellar keratoplasty at the German Ophthalmic Surgeons meeting.
The study included 16 eyes with superficial corneal opacities of no more than one-third corneal depth. A microkeratome was used to remove a 160-µm-thick, 9-mm-diameter corneal lamella from the patient’s eye. A graft of a similar size was created from a donor cornea, and the graft was fixed on the recipient eye using overlying sutures. The sutures were removed after 2 weeks.
After suture removal, 15 of the 16 eyes had a best corrected visual acuity of 20/40, and all had astigmatism of 4 D or less, Prof. Busin said.
Prof. Busin noted that some interface problems can develop with the lamellar grafts, but the main problem encountered with the technique was mismatched size between the donor graft and recipient bed. He said there generally is no problem if the donor graft is smaller than the recipient bed.