Management of Upside-Down Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty: A Case Series

To present the management of upside-down Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) following combined phacoemulsification with DMEK (phaco-DMEK) in cases of Fuchs endothelial dystrophy (FED).

This is a comparative interventional case series extracted from a prospective interventional case series (clinical outcome of DMEK combined with phacoemulsification for FED). We report five cases of upside-down DMEK. Two cases of upside-down DMEK were managed with re-orientation and the other two with repeat DMEK. The 5^th case underwent an initial re-orientation and then a subsequent repeat graft. Graft re-orientation and repeat surgery were performed 9-20 days after initial phaco-DMEK. All the five cases were followed up over a 6-month period, and the following outcomes were assessed: best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), contrast sensitivity (CS), central corneal thickness, endothelial cell density (ECD), and central macular thickness.

At the final 6-month postoperative follow-up, all the five cases achieved good outcomes in terms of BCVA and CS. Overall, the results were comparable to 32 control cases. One case of re-orientation and the case of re-orientation with subsequent repeat DMEK performed slightly less well than control cases in terms of postoperative ECD.

Re-orientation of the original DMEK scroll in cases of upside-down DMEK can be a safe and cost-effective alternative to repeat DMEK. If re-orientation does not result in corneal deturgescence, a repeat DMEK may be done subsequently.