A study on outcome of penetrating keratoplasty in various types of corneal pathologies

Introduction: Penetrating keratoplasty involves surgical removal of diseased or damaged cornea from the host and replacement with a full thickness donor cornea. The major goals of penetrating keratoplasty are to improve visual acuity, to maintain the integrity of the eye and to treat various infection or neoplastic conditions. Depending on the location of the corneal abnormality, it may be sufficient to replace the anterior corneal layers (anterior lamellar keratoplasty) or the posterior corneal stroma and endothelium (posterior lamellar keratoplasty or descements stripping endothelial keratoplasty or descements stripping endothelial keratoplasty). Materials and Methods: This study has been done in department of Ophthalmology, Pt. J.N.M. Medical College, Raipur (C.G) from July 2009 to October 2010 and consists of group of patients attending eye OPD and admitted in department of ophthalmology. All patients included in the study were enquired about their history of diminution of vision, previous surgery, duration and any other associated symptoms. The patients underwent a detailed preoperative examination including visual acuity measurement with snellen's chart, retinoscopy and subjective correction and slit lamp biomicroscopy. Observations: Among 40 patients 23 were male and 17 were female maximum patients were above 40 years of age. Out of 40 cases (100%), 23 cases (57.5%) were therapeutic and 17 cases (42.5%) were optical purpose. The mean age of the donor cornea was (61-80 years) age group which is used in 65% (26) cases. Maximum cases (40%) had corneal ulcer followed by corneal opacity (35%) and adherent leucoma (17%). Out of 40 cases in 32 cases of PKP shows complications. Improvement in visual acuity was seen in majority of cases. Conclusion: In this study we concluded that penetrating keratoplasty is most useful to save vision and structural integrity in case of corneal blindness