Surgical Management of Corneal Hydrops: Case Series

Descemet's membrane (DM) rupture/detachments have traditionally been treated conservatively, with limited efficacy and a long rehabilitation period that significantly affects patients' vision and quality of life. Although there are no established gold standards for the timing and nature of treatment, with this series of 4 cases we aimed to highlight the importance of the current optimal intervention methods. The first two patients were treated with anterior chamber injection of isoexpansile 14% C3F8 due to acute hydrops associated with keratoglobus in the first case and keratoconus in the second case. The third patient had keratoglobus and chronic hydrops complicated by multiple stromal clefts detected on anterior segment optical coherence tomography, and the fourth patient had a chronic broad DM detachment which occurred after cataract surgery. Both of these patients were treated with intracameral C3F8 injection together with corneal compressive sutures. In all four cases, DM reattached completely and effectively with surgical intervention. Surgical management of DM rupture/detachment with intracameral gas injection and compressive corneal sutures seems to provide fast symptomatic relief and less healing-related corneal scarring with better visual rehabilitation, and may alleviate the need for corneal transplant surgery in this group of patients.