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Preop straylight may predict success of DSEK for Fuchs' dystrophy
Arch Ophthalmol. 2011. doi:10.1001/archophthalmol.2011.247.
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Visual acuity and straylight improved after Descemet's stripping endothelial keratoplasty in patients with Fuchs' endothelial dystrophy, a study found.
"Straylight is a useful clinical metric to help determine the timing of surgical intervention and can be especially helpful in younger symptomatic subjects with Fuchs' dystrophy whose [corrected distance visual acuity] is close to 20/20," the study authors said.
The study included an observational case series of 99 eyes of 66 patients and a prospective interventional case series of 48 eyes of 41 patients requiring DSEK. All patients had corneal guttae with or without corneal edema, consistent with Fuchs' endothelial dystrophy.
Eyes with Fuchs' dystrophy had mean decreased logMAR corrected distance visual acuity of 0.42 (Snellen equivalent 20/53) and mean increased straylight of 1.54 logarithm of the straylight parameter compared with healthy eyes.
Corrected distance visual acuity and straylight improved in all postoperative examinations (P < .001), and improvement in straylight from before DSEK to 12 months after DSEK correlated with recipient age (P = .01; n = 33).
"Because straylight and [corrected distance visual acuity] are two separate aspects of visual function, straylight is a useful independent measurement of visual function and easily measured in the clinic," the study authors said.