[Penetrating keratoplasty combined with extracapsular lens extraction]

Penetrating keratoplasty combined lens extraction was employed in 4 cases at the Department of Ophthalmology Hospital, University of Occupational and Environmental Health from January 1981 through May 1983. The visual acuity of the treated eye in all of the four cases has improved from before surgery. The operative procedure employed in our cases was very effective in preventing complications that might occur during and after surgery. We performed the extracapsular lens extraction by using the open sky method and A/I tip under a surgical microscope without difficulty. We concluded that the keratoplasty combined with extracapsular lens extraction can be safely and reliably performed by employing the above method and that it is a very effective and useful operation in cases of which visual impairment is due to corneal opacity and cataracts.