Study: Color discernment may improve after DMEK in patients with Fuchs’ endothelial corneal dystrophy

The majority of patients with Fuchs’ endothelial corneal dystrophy who underwent Descemet’s membrane endothelial keratoplasty showed an improvement in color discernment scores after surgery, according to a study.

The prospective, single-center study included 26 eyes of 26 patients with Fuchs’ endothelial corneal dystrophy who underwent DMEK; 24 eyes were pseudophakic and two eyes were phakic.

Patients underwent a preoperative screening examination and a 1-month postoperative examination, which included a unilateral assessment of color vision with near vision correction using a computerized version of the Farnsworth-Munsell 100 hue test.

Overall, color discernment improved after DMEK. The median number of errors made by patients on the color vision test improved from 64 before surgery to 48 after surgery (P = .0053). Twenty-one patients made fewer errors, two patients stayed the same, and three patients made more errors.

Color vision scores of the 24 pseudophakic eyes at 1 month after DMEK and a group of age-matched controls at 1 month after cataract surgery were not significantly different.

“Given the absence of correlation between color vision improvement and central pachymetry reduction associated with the resolution of edema, we hypothesize that color vision improvement probably related to the removal of the guttae associated with [Fuchs’ endothelial corneal dystrophy],” the study authors said. – by Robert Linnehan

Disclosure: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.

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Source:

Price DA, et al. Cornea. 2016;doi:10.1097/ICO.0000000000000871.