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Updated: Oct 16, 2025
Corneal Donor Tissue Preparation for Descemet's Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty
Published on: September 17, 2014
Sutureless Tectonic Mini-Descemet's Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty ("mini-DSAEK") for the management of
Harry W Roberts1, Chrishan D Gunasekera1, Elizabeth M Law1
1Department of Ophthalmology, 575019Southend University Hospital, Southend, UK.
Purpose:
To report the outcomes of a new technique, pull-through sutureless 'mini-DSAEK', to manage corneal perforations secondary to different aetiologies including trauma, neurotrophic ulcer following penetrating keratoplasty (PK), herpes simplex keratitis and microbial keratitis.
Methods:
In this retrospective case series, we report the clinical outcomes of five cases of sutureless tectonic mini-DSAEK performed in patients presenting with large corneal perforations to Southend University Hospital between November 2019 and October 2020. One corneal perforation was sufficiently peripheral for the tectonic mini-DSAEK graft to be successfully positioned outside of the central visual axis. Four corneal perforations were central or paracentral for which the tectonic grafts involved the visual axis.
Results:
Anterior chambers remained deep and formed with no evidence of leak in all subsequent follow ups in all patients representing 100% tectonic success. All tectonic grafts remained attached except one partially detached graft. One patient underwent uneventful phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implant 8 months after the primary intervention with excellent visual outcome. Two patients underwent two-piece mushroom PK and one patient underwent triple procedure (cataract extraction + intraocular lens + PK) for visual rehabilitation 2-6 months after the primary intervention with good visual outcome.
Conclusion:
Sutureless tectonic pull-through mini-DSAEK is a useful technique in the management of corneal perforations, with a number of advantages compared with conventional techniques.
