Visual results after corneal transplantation

The results of corneal transplantation can be measured by the percentage of clear grafts and by the subsequent visual acuity. In this study we summarized the visual results in five corneal diseases with a low rate of graft failure. Keratoconus patients achieved an average visual acuity of 0.5 one year after transplantation, while patients with corneal decompensation after previous cataract operation only reached an average of 0.2. Sometimes visual results were hampered by clouding of the graft and the reason for clouding was analysed in such cases. Reversible and irreversible rejections occurred with the highest frequency immediately after transplantation, and while in primary grafts 60% of rejections was reversible, only two out of ten repeat transplants could be saved. This indicates that more measures are necessary to prevent failure of secondary transplants in order to obtain the goal of useful vision.