[Defect closure with scleral grafts]

Excessively draining fistulas may lead to enucleation when primary suture closure is not effective. In these cases preserved cadaver tissues such as sclera, fascia lata, dura mater and peritoneum have been used for patch graft repair with variable results. In this study, the clinical outcomes after transplantation of scleral patch grafts have been investigated.

Twenty-eight eyes of twenty-seven patients underwent surgery with homologous scleral patch grafts for repair of excessively draining scleral fistulas after cataract surgery (n = 2), leaking filtering blebs following full-thickness filtration surgery (n = 7), large scleral perforations due to trauma (n = 7), corneo-scleral ulcerations due to severe eye burns (n = 9) or after radiotherapy of malignant melanoma (n = 3). The mean size of the rectangular grafts was 8.6 x 6.7 mm (+/- 2.8/3.1 mm). Clinical follow-up was up to 73 months (median 30 months).

Twenty-three of 28 eyes (82.1 %) showed functional closure after initial surgery without any wound complication such as patch retraction or leakage and without evidence of inflammation. In five eyes surgical revision was necessary. Two of these eyes had to be enucleated due to uncontrollable dehiscence after the second operation. Two eyes were enucleated at the patient's demand due to pain. The fifth eye showed effective closure after the second operation.

In our study scleral patch grafts were useful in adequately closing large corneo-scleral defects in 24 of 28 eyes (85.7 %). The antigen load and, therefore, the rejection of the scleral grafts is minimized due to the denaturation of proteins during the alcohol treatment before storage.