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Updated: Mar 9, 2026
Corneal Donor Tissue Preparation for Descemet's Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty
Published on: September 17, 2014
Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty After Descemet Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty
Shay Gutfreund1, Pia Leon1, Shmuel Graffi1
1Department of Ophthalmology, Villa Igea Hospital, and IRFO, Istituto internazionale per la Ricerca e Formazione in Oftalmologia, Forlì, Italy.
Purpose:
To report the indications and long-term outcomes of deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) performed after Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) in cases of visually significant stromal opacities.
Design:
Retrospective, interventional, consecutive case series.
Methods:
Setting: Private hospital.
Study Population:
Thirteen eyes that underwent DALK after DSAEK at our institution. Indications for DALK after DSAEK included both stromal opacities persisting after DSAEK and stromal opacities occurring secondarily in post-DSAEK corneas. DALK was always performed in a standardized fashion including exchange of a disc of full-thickness recipient cornea (up to the DSAEK stromal surface),7.0 mm in diameter, with a donor lamella obtained by microkeratome-assisted dissection, punched to 7.0 mm and sutured into place with a double running 10-0 nylon suture.
Main Outcome Measures:
Best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA), manifest refraction, and endothelial cell density (ECD).
Results:
Mean follow-up was 26 ± 18 months (range = 6-60 months). Indications for DSAEK were full-thickness graft failure (n = 8), DSAEK graft failure (n = 3), and pseudophakic bullous keratopathy (n = 2). Indications for subsequent DALK were persisting stromal opacity (n = 9) and stromal opacities newly occurred after DSAEK as a result of HSV keratitis (n = 2) or interface infection (n = 2). After complete suture removal, mean BSCVA was 20/28 (0.14 ± 0.8 logMAR) in eyes without ocular comorbidities affecting visual acuity (n = 7), while refractive astigmatism was within 4 diopter (D) in all but 1 eye (average = 3.2 ± 1.4 D). No intraoperative complications were recorded.
Conclusions:
Performing DALK on DSAEK eliminates the need for open-sky surgery, achieving visual results comparable to those of penetrating keratoplasty, while sparing a healthy endothelial graft.
