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Updated: Jun 8, 2026
Corneal Donor Tissue Preparation for Descemet's Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty
Published on: September 17, 2014
Surgical technique of deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty in descemetoceles
Namrata Sharma1, Chandrashekhar Kumar, Rashim Mannan
1Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. namrata103@hotmail.com
Purpose:
To describe a surgical technique of deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) to treat patients with descemetocele.
Methods:
Twelve eyes of 12 patients with central or paracentral descemetocele after resolved microbial keratitis underwent viscoelastic-assisted DALK. The mean follow-up of the cases was 19.91 ± 15.80 months (range: 6-48 months).
Result:
In all the eyes, a successful DALK could be performed without any intraoperative complications. At the last follow-up visit, all but 1 eye showed significant improvement in visual acuity compared with preoperative visual acuity. The postoperative best-corrected visual acuity did not improve in 1 patient because of glaucomatous optic atrophy, which was present preoperatively. Eight eyes had best-corrected visual acuity of ≥ 20/80, and all but 2 patients had clear grafts at the final follow-up. None of the patients had any evidence of graft infection.
Conclusions:
Viscoelastic-assisted DALK is a useful therapeutic option in selected cases of descemetocele after resolved microbial keratitis.
