Multicenter Study of 6-Month Clinical Outcomes After Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty

Abstract

DMEK is applicable for surgeons in various settings with good clinical outcomes. After an arbitrary learning curve (<25 cases), virtually all transplant-related complications declined with experience. Notably, surgeons with a higher annual caseload may pass faster through their learning curve than surgeons performing their first surgeries over an extended period.

Descemet’s membrane endothelial keratoplasty: surgical outcomes and endothelial cell count modelling from a UK centre

“…Visual acuity results were excellent with 67% of eyes attaining a BCVA of 6/6 or better and 86% attaining 6/9 or better at 3 months. This compares favourably to BCVA outcomes from large multicentre [5] and single-centre [16][17][18] DMEK series emanating from international centres.…”

“…A recent, comprehensive literature review found a mean re-bubble rate of 29% for DMEK [4]. Graft detachment rates [5] and re-bubble rates [21] are known to improve with surgical experience. Our initial 'learning curve' DMEK cases were included in this series, but it is notable that we had 10 years of prior experience on over 300 DSEKs before transitioning to DMEK, which may have helped our technique and outcomes.…”

“…Unlike its closely related predecessor Descemet's stripping endothelial keratoplasty (DSEK), in DMEK the transplanted DM and endothelium are not accompanied by a lamella of donor stroma. DMEK therefore results in better preservation of the corneal architecture compared to DSEK, resulting in superior visual outcomes [4,5].…”

Corneal Edema and Opacification Preferred Practice Pattern®

“…Table 3. 84 5.9%-27.4% 85,86 Wound dehiscence 1.3%-5.8% 76,87,88 Donor failure within 60 days 0.3% 89 0%-29.0%; mean 5.0% 81,90 2.2%-8.0%, [90][91][92] Rejection rate at:…”

Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty: Our Clinical Results

“…17 2485 göze 55 farklı cerrah tarafından DMEK uygulanan çok merkezli bir çalışmada ise ilk 6 ay içinde re-keratoplasti ihtiyacı %13,8 olarak rapor edilmiştir. 26 Bizim çalışmamızda, ort. 17,2 aylık takip süresi sonunda %12,3 olguda (%7,1 re-DMEK, %5,2 PKP) tekrar cerrahiye ihtiyaç duyuldu.…”