[Corneal examination in patients with bullous keratopathy before and after endothelial keratoplasty].

Objective: To evaluate corneal status in patients with bullous keratopathy before and after endothelial keratoplasty.
Material and Methods: A total of 16 patients (18 eyes) with bullous keratopathy were examined before and after DSAEK. Confocal microscopy ("Nidek", Japan) was used for corneal status evaluation.
Results: Follow-up examinations were performed 3, 6, and 24 months after the surgery. In all patients minor corneal opacity persisted for the whole follow-up period but tended to decrease. It is shown that visual acuity is most dependent on light scattering in the anterior stroma.
Conclusion: Anterior stromal haze is shown to have greater impact on visual acuity than opacities, folds, and birefringent deposits within the host-donor interface. Duration of bullous keratopathy, patient's age, and comorbidity are the factors that influence anterior and deep stromal haze development and changes over time.