Monitoring cornea and graft morphometric dynamics after non-Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty with anterior segment optical coherence tomography

Objective To evaluate the thickness of cornea and the function of cornea and graft with AS-OCT after non-descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty.Methods Single-center,prospective,no comparative,interventional case series.All 20 patients,from September 2007 to September 2011 (9 male,11 female) were treated with non-DSEK for bullous keratoplasty,endothelial dysfunction and iridoCorneal endothelial syndrome (ICE) in Xiamen eye center affiliated to Xiamen university.Central corneal thickness,interface fluid and dislocation of graft were measured with AS-OCT during the follow up of 36 months containing preoperative 7 days and 1,3,6,12,24,and 36 months after operation.Results Preoperative average central corneal thickness (CCT) was 718um.From 7 days to 1 month CCT changed significantly.As known the dynamics of CCT was correlated with the change of recipient and graft.Cornea decreased at speed of 10.4um/day within the first week and 5.7um/day during the first month postoperative.During 1 and 36 months the cornea was more stable with only a trend toward further decrease,at speed of 5.6um/month.Conclusions Corneal thickness has changed notably since the 1 month and turned more stable since the 3rd month.AS-OCT can monitor cornea dynamics quantitatively and tell the recovery of endothlieal cell. Key words: AS-OCT;  non-Descemet Stripping;  Endothelial Keratoplasty