Keratoplasty for corneal endothelial disease, 2001-2009

To determine the rates of keratoplasty for corneal endothelial disease (CED) from 2001 to 2009 in a large managed care network in the United States, factors that affect which patients undergo this procedure and surgical outcomes.

A retrospective review of data from a longitudinal cohort study.

Beneficiaries with CED aged ≥ 40 years who were receiving eye care during 2001 to 2009.

Rates of keratoplasty for CED were determined at 6-month intervals from January 2001 to December 2009. The mean number of postoperative visits and rates of severe adverse events in the year after keratoplasty surgery were monitored over the course of the decade. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression were performed to identify sociodemographic and other factors associated with undergoing keratoplasty for CED.

Odds of undergoing keratoplasty with 95% confidence intervals, changes in the number of postoperative visits, and rates of adverse events in the year after keratoplasty.

Of the 38 648 enrollees who met the inclusion criteria, 2187 underwent ≥ 1 keratoplasty surgeries from January 2001 to December 2009. After adjustment for confounding factors, individuals with CED had 47% increased odds of undergoing keratoplasty during 2007-2009 relative to 2001-2006. The mean number of postoperative visits to eyecare providers in the year after keratoplasty declined from 12.6 in 2001-2006 to 10.5 in 2007-2008. There was no difference in the proportion of enrollees who developed adverse events after keratoplasty over time.

In this analysis of claims data, from 2001 to 2009, a period during which there was an increase in the rate of endothelial keratoplasty, we observed a trend of greater rates of keratoplasty in patients with CED and fewer visits for postoperative care in the later years of the decade compared with the earlier years, along with no change in rates of severe adverse events.