Corneal Biomechanical Properties and their Correlates with Healing Process after Descemetic versus Pre-Descemetic Lamellar Keratoplasty

Abstract

To evaluate the influence of the wound-healing process on corneal biomechanics in patients after 2 types of deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty: Descemetic with total stromal resection vs pre-Descemetic with deep stromal dissection. This prospective comparative study consisted of 32 eyes of 32 patients. Patients were divided into 2 groups: Descemetic (17 eyes) and pre-Descemetic (15 eyes). Reichert ocular response analyzer was used to measure corneal hysteresis (CH) and corneal resistance factor (CRF) at 1 and 3 months postoperatively. Central corneal thickness (CCT) was measured using ultrasonic pachymetry. In vivo confocal microscopy was also used to study the corneal wound-healing process and to correlate these events with the corneal biomechanics postoperatively in both groups. Both mean CH and mean CRF were significantly lower in the Descemetic than the pre-Descemetic group at 1 and 3 months postoperatively (p≤0.0001). The reflectivity of activated keratocytes at both the interface and wound edge was less in the Descemetic than the pre-Descemetic group at all times as revealed by the confocal microscopy. No statistically significant difference in mean CCT was found between both groups at 1 and 3 months. Subsequent and progressive decrease in interface reflectivity of activated keratocytes was presented in both groups. Healing process at the interface is key to optimal corneal integrity. In the pre-Descemetic group, stroma-to-stroma healing stimulated more activated keratocytes and hence stronger healing response, providing superior corneal biomechanics. Significant positive correlation between the intensity of the keratocyte activation and corneal integrity was found.