Comparison of 12-month anatomic and functional results between Z6 femtosecond laser-assisted and manual trephination in deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty for advanced keratoconus.

Comparison of 12-month anatomic and functional results between Z6 femtosecond laser-assisted and manual trephination in deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty for advanced keratoconus. J Fr Ophtalmol. 2017 Jun 07;: Authors: Blériot A, Martin E, Lebranchu P, Zimmerman K, Libeau L, Weber M, Vabres B, Orignac I Abstract The management of severe keratoconus requires corneal transplantation, for which the gold standard is deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK), preserving the healthy Descemet's membrane and endothelium. The safety and reproducibility of corneal cuts have been improved by the evolution of femtosecond lasers in refractive surgery, and femtosecond laser in DALK would seem to provide the same advantages over the manual method. In our retrospective study, we compare functional and anatomical results of femtosecond-assisted DALK versus manual trephination DALK in patients with keratoconus in stage 4 of the Krumeich classification. It is a retrospective study including all patients with stage 4 keratoconus who underwent femtosecond laser-assisted DALK between November 2012 and November 2015 in Nantes university medical center. We compared those patients to a group of patients who underwent manual DALK in the same period, paired by age and maximal keratometry. We assessed visual acuity, pachymetry, endothelial cell density (specular microscopy), and keratometry before surgery and at 4, 8 and 12 months of follow-up. Laser setti...
Source: Journal Francais d Ophtalmologie - Category: Opthalmology Tags: J Fr Ophtalmol Source Type: research