[Perforating monolateral autokeratoplasty (author's transl)]

The author describes his own techniques of perforating monolateral autokeratoplasty, using two trephines of the same diameter, one of them turning with the right, the other with the left hand. To prevent loss of aqueous humor at first the one and then the other trephine is used up to half the thickness of the cornea. Then the central disc is excised, but to close the hole the trephine left in place until after the finishing of trephining the peripheral disc. The peripheral clear graft is sutured into the central hole, and the central clouded graft is sutured into the peripheral hole. The cornea is overlapped with a conjunctival flap. The diameter of the trephine may be 3 or 4 mm. In total we performed 24 perforating monolateral autokeratoplasties. In 13 the graft remained clear, in 9 they became semitransparent and in two cases they became clouded. In 20 patients the visual acuity improved, in 4 patients no change could be attained. In case of a clear healing the picture of the cornea is characteristic: in the dim center a clear disc and in the periphery - at most in the upper part - the dim graft from the leukoma.