Primary endothelial dystrophy of the cornea is a fairly common disease in people older than 50 years. Well-developed methods of conservative treatment, as a rule, do not lead to improvement or stabilization of the functional state of the cornea. The choice of tactics of surgical treatment from the existing variety of techniques is complicated. There are isolated reports of the restoration of corneal transparency after descemet membrane removal. The author's method of endothelial corneal dystrophy treatment addressed in this particular clinical case - a combination of isolated descemetorhexis and collagen cross-linking - resulted in impressive increase in visual acuity and significant improvement in objective criteria for the morpho-functional state of the cornea. (For citation: Astakhov SYu, Riks IA, Papayan SS, et al. About a new approach to surgical treatment of corneal endothelial dystrophy. Ophthalmology Journal. 2018;11(1):78-84. doi: 10.17816/OV11178-84).

The article presents a case of Urrets-Zavalia syndrome development in a patient after a subtotal penetra ting keratoplasty, carried out for corneal opacity. Since this syndrome was diagnosed in time, it was possible to avoid further complications and worsening of visual functions in 25-year-old patient.

BACKGROUND: Phacoemulsification, being the safest technique, is the golden standard of cataract surgery worldwide. However, as any surgery, it is accompanied by inevitable damage to intraocular structures. The most prevalent among them is the loss of corneal endothelial cells. In order to prevent these complications, various viscoelastics with particular features and characteristics are widely used. AIM: To compare the anatomical and functional state of ocular structures after standard phacoemulsification with monofocal posterior chamber intraocular lens (IOL) implantation using domestic (Kogevisc and Adgevisc) and foreign (Viscoat and Amvisc Plus) viscoelastics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 60 cataract patients (60 eyes) were included in the clinical study, which were divided into two equal groups. In the first group (30 patients, 30 eyes), Adgevisc and Kogevisc (Solofarm, Russia) were used during the procedure. The mean age of the patients was 66 11 years. In the second group (30 patients, 30 eyes), Viscoat (Alcon) and Amvisc Plus (BauschLomb) were used. The mean age of the patients was 69.03 10.44 years. All patients underwent phacoemulsification with the implantation of the AcrySof IOL (model SA60AT, Alcon) according to the standard technique. Visual acuity, IOP level, CCT, corneal endothelial cell density were assessed. All studies were performed before surgery, the next day, 7 days and 1 month after surgery. RESULTS: In patients of the second group, on the 1st (p 0.05) and 7th day (p 0.01) after surgery, a statistically significant increase in IOP was revealed compared to the first group. The central cornea thickness in the early postoperative period was higher in patients of the second group, however, it was not statistically significant. The loss of corneal endothelial cells 1 month after surgery was 8.5 7.0% (p 0.01) in the first group and 6.6 6.4% in the second group (p 0.01). The mean value of endothelial cell loss in patients of the first group was higher, however, it was not statistically significant. The best corrected visual acuity in both groups at all stages of follow-up after surgery (days 1, 7 and 30) was comparable, there was no significant difference between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical efficacy of domestic adhesive and cohesive viscoelastics Adgevisc and Kogevisc (Solofarm, Russia) in phacoemulsification using the soft-shell technique is comparable to the foreign analogues Viscoat (Alcon) and Amvisc Plus (Bausch Lomb), which is confirmed by the absence of statistically significant differences in the studied parameters of the postoperative state of ocular structures and explained by their similar composition, molecular weight and viscosity.

The article examines the efficacy of the author’s method of endothelial corneal dystrophy treatment, inclu ding descemetorhexis and accelerated collagen crosslinking. In primary endothelial dystrophy, corneal state improvement and restoration of its transparency were observed in 66.6% of cases (due to migration of endothelial cells from the periphery to the сentral zone). In secondary endothelial dystrophy, the treatment method described in the present article is ineffective, and the reasons for failures are not quite clear and require further investigation.