Feasibility and Outcome of Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty in Complex Anterior Segment and Vitreous Disease
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CLINICAL SCIENCE Feasibility and Outcome of Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty in Complex Anterior Segment and Vitreous Disease Julia M. Weller, MD, Theofilos Tourtas, MD, and Friedrich E. Kruse, MD escemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK), Purpose: Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) is Da technique for posterior lamellar keratoplasty, involves becoming the method of choice for treating Fuchs endothelial a graft consisting only of the thin Descemet membrane with dystrophy and pseudophakic bullous keratopathy. We investigated adherent corneal endothelial cells. Introduced in 2006 by whether DMEK can serve as a routine procedure in endothelial Melles et al,1 DMEK is becoming more popular as several decompensation even in complex preoperative situations. studies show its superiority to Descemet stripping automated Methods: Of a total of 1184 DMEK surgeries, 24 consecutive eyes endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK), regarding visual function 2,3 with endothelial decompensation and complex preoperative situa- and the time of visual rehabilitation after DMEK. However, tions were retrospectively analyzed and divided into 5 groups: group because DMEK grafts are thinner than DSAEK grafts, it is fi 1: irido-corneo-endothelial syndrome (n = 3), group 2: aphakia, more dif cult to handle them and typically takes surgeons subluxated posterior chamber intraocular lens or anterior chamber longer to learn. intraocular lens (n = 6), group 3: DMEK after trabeculectomy (n = In difficult situations, most surgeons prefer DSAEK or 4), group 4: DMEK with simultaneous intravitreal injection (n = 6), penetrating keratoplasty to DMEK because of its possible and group 5: DMEK after vitrectomy (n = 5). Main outcome intraoperative complications. For example, if corneal edema 4 parameters were best-corrected visual acuity, central corneal thick- is advanced, Ham et al recommend performing DSAEK first ness, endothelial cell density, rebubbling rate, and graft failure rate. to achieve clearance of corneal stroma, and then performing DMEK second for better visual results. Results: Best-corrected visual acuity (logMAR) increased from 0.98 Nowadays, DMEK surgery is becoming more standard- to 0.53 (P = 0.002), 0.53 (P = 0.091), and 0.57 (P = 0.203) after 1, 3, ized with the predictable success and good reproducibility of and 6 months, respectively. Central corneal thickness decreased from graft preparation.5 However, the feasibility of DMEK is 731 6 170 to 546 6 152 mm(P = 0.001), 514 6 66 mm(P = 0.932), dependent on 3 morphological features of the eye: (1) and 554 6 98 mm(P = 0.004) after 1, 3, and 6 months, respectively. anatomy of the anterior chamber, (2) situation of the iris– 6 6 Donor endothelial cell density decreased from 2478 185 to 1454 lens diaphragm, (3) status of the vitreous. 2 , 6 2 6 193/mm (P 0.001), 1301 298/mm (P = 0.241), and 1374 261/ Both a shallow and a very deep anterior chamber make 2 mm (P = 0.213), after 1, 3, and 6 months, respectively. The rebubbling the handling and unfolding of the graft difficult. A stable iris– rate was 46% (11/24). Four patients (17%) had secondary graft failure. lens diaphragm is required because during and at the end of Conclusions: Our data provide evidence that DMEK is feasible for surgery, an air bubble is injected into the anterior chamber to the treatment of endothelial decompensation in complex preoperative unfold and then push the graft against the posterior surface of situations. the corneal stroma. The performance of the air bubble during surgery is largely influenced by an absent lens or vitreous Key Words: Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty, irido- support (vitrectomized eyes). In aphakic eyes, the air bubble corneo-endothelial syndrome, aphakia, subluxation of intraocular tends to move through the pupil into the posterior chamber lens causing the iris to move forward. Furthermore, the thin rolled (Cornea 2015;34:1351–1357) graft might dislocate through the pupil into the posterior chamber during surgery as described for DSAEK in aphakic 6 Received for publication May 19, 2015; revision received July 26, 2015; or vitrectomized eyes. Similarly, the performance of the accepted August 3, 2015. Published online ahead of print September 18, bubble is changed by injecting fluid into the vitreous during 2015. administration of antiangiogenic drugs for the treatment of From the Department of Ophthalmology, Friedrich-Alexander University cystoid macular edema. The resulting increase in vitreous Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany. The authors have no funding or conflicts of interest to disclose. pressure decreases the anterior chamber, both increasing the Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Direct URL citations risk for pupillary block and reducing the size of the air appear in the printed text and are provided in the HTML and PDF bubble, which can be safely administered during surgery. versions of this article on the journal’s Web site (www.corneajrnl.com). Thereby, the risk of postoperative graft detachment might be Reprints: Julia M. Weller, MD, Department of Ophthalmology, University of fl Erlangen-Nuremberg, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054 Erlangen, Germany increased. After trabeculectomy, anterior chamber uidics are (e-mail: [email protected]). altered and might influence anterior chamber stability and Copyright © 2015 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved. unfolding of the graft during DMEK. Cornea Volume 34, Number 11, November 2015 www.corneajrnl.com | 1351 Copyright © 2015 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited. Weller et al Cornea Volume 34, Number 11, November 2015 Therefore, we wondered whether DMEK is technically in the cartridge. During insertion of the graft, the anterior possible and successful in endothelial decompensation and chamber was stabilized with an irrigation handpiece. The complex preoperative situations, as there are: graft was unrolled by insertion of a small air bubble inside the roll and lateral movements of the bubble by gentle pressure 1. eyes with a shallow anterior chamber with anterior on the cornea. After complete unrolling of the graft, the air synechiae in irido-corneo-endothelial (ICE) syndrome bubble, which had been inside the graft roll, was replaced by – 2. eyes with altered iris lens diaphragm [aphakia/sub- an air bubble between the graft and iris to allow graft luxation of a posterior chamber intraocular lens (PC attachment. IOL)/anterior chamber intraocular lens (AC IOL)] DMEK with simultaneous phacoemulsification and 3. eyes after previous trabeculectomy with antimetabolite implantation of a posterior chamber IOL (triple procedure) treatment was performed in 3 eyes (patients 2, 3, and 16). At the end of 4. eyes with cystoid macular edema requiring simulta- the procedure, the anterior chamber was filled with an air neous intravitreal vascular endothelial growth factor bubble, which was reduced to 50% of the anterior chamber (VEGF) antagonists volume after 60 minutes. If graft detachment with delayed 5. eyes after previous vitrectomy. corneal clearing was detected postoperatively at slit-lamp In this study, we present the results of DMEK in 24 examination or by slit-lamp optical coherence tomography, eyes with complex preoperative situations. rebubbling with installation of an air bubble into the anterior chamber was performed. All group 2 patients underwent a 2-step procedure. In MATERIALS AND METHODS case of aphakia, the first surgery was the implantation of a scleral-sutured PC IOL (Morcher 81 B; Morcher GmbH, Patients Stuttgart, Germany). In pseudophakic eyes with IOL sub- In this retrospective study, patients undergoing DMEK luxation or AC IOLs, the IOL was explanted and replaced by for the treatment of endothelial decompensation in complex a scleral-sutured PC IOL (n = 3) or the existing IOL was preoperative situations were included. Of a total of 1184 reimplanted with scleral suture-fixation (n = 1). If necessary, DMEK surgeries, which had been performed between further surgical steps were performed, such as suture of the September 2009 and September 2014, 24 eyes of 24 patients iris for pupilloplasty (n = 1) or anterior vitrectomy (n = 3). In fulfilled the following inclusion criteria: group 1: ICE a second step, DMEK was performed after stabilization of the syndrome (n = 3); group 2: aphakia, AC IOL, or subluxation iris–lens diaphragm. Because vitreous support is still func- of a PC IOL (n = 6); group 3: DMEK after trabeculectomy tional after anterior vitrectomy through corneal incisions, we with or without antimetabolite treatment (n = 4); group 4: did not combine these eyes with group 5 (vitrectomy group). DMEK with simultaneous intravitreal injection for cystoid Patients in group 4 received an intravitreal injection of macular edema (n = 6); and group 5: DMEK after vitrectomy bevacizumab (1.0 mg in 0.2 mL) or ranibizumab (0.3 mg in (n = 5). Indication for DMEK was endothelial decompensa- 0.05 mL) upon completion of DMEK surgery. tion due to Fuchs endothelial dystrophy (n = 10), ICE The time of surgery was 30 6 6 minutes. The slightly syndrome (n = 3), and pseudophakic/aphakic bullous kerat- prolonged surgery time, compared with that of standard opathy (n = 11). Patient characteristics and a detailed list of DMEK procedures, was because of the following reasons: indications for DMEK are shown in Supplemental Digital removal of irido-corneal adhesions (n = 4), removal of the Content (see Table 1, http://links.lww.com/ICO/A355). corneal epithelium because of poor visibility of the anterior Of the patients, 11 (46%) were male and 13 (54%) were chamber (n = 5), removal of a retrocorneal membrane (n = 1), female. Mean age at the time of surgery was 69 6 10 years corneoscleral sutures (n = 5) because of an untight tunnel (range 49–90 years). All DMEK surgeries were performed incision, and suture of an untight paracentesis (n = 1). between September 2009 and September 2014 by 2 experi- Intraoperative complications included difficult descemeto- enced surgeons. Mean follow-up duration was 10 months rhexis because of strong adhesion of the recipient’s Descemet (range 1–53 months).