Descemet's membrane detachment following uneventful phacoemulsification surgeries: A case report.

Abstract

Rationale:Descemet's membrane detachment (DMD) may occur during or following cataract surgery, causing corneal edema and visual loss1. The incidence of DMD after phacoemulsification surgery is only approximately 0.5%, and mostly surgical-related. Late onset bilateral spontaneous DMD after sequential uneventful cataract surgeries, is even rarer, and may result from not only surgery itself, but also from an underlying anatomic abnormality 2.Patient concerns:We present a 80 year old female developed bilateral descemet's membrane detachment after sequential uncomplicated cataract surgeries.Diagnosis:Bilateral Descemet's membrane detachment.Interventions:One eye (left eye) was treated with intracameral air injection and the fellow eye (right eye) was treated with medical treatment only.Outcomes:The DMDs were reattached in both eyes after treatment. Surgical intervention accelerated the duration of recovery and there were no significant outcome differences between the right and the left eye.Lessons:Even if there is a large area of DMD with visual axis involvement, conservative treatment with close observation might still provide a satisfactory result if Descemet's membrane is separated from the posterior corneal stroma by ≤1 mm.