Descemet stripping only in Fuchs’ endothelial dystrophy without use of topical Rho-kinase inhibitors: 5-year follow-up

Objective To describe 5-year postoperative outcomes of a small series of Fuchs’ endothelial dystrophy (FED) patients who underwent Descemet stripping only (DSO) with a scraping technique. Methods DSO technique and early clinical outcomes of 5 patients with mild central FED were previously reported. In the same cohort of patients, corrected distance visual acuity, central corneal ultrasound pachymetry, refractive spherical equivalent, endothelial cell count, slit-lamp photography, and corneal Scheimpflug tomography were obtained at baseline, 6 months, and 1 and 5 years postoperatively. No patient used topical Rho-kinase inhibitors at any point in time. Results One patient (20%) failed to clear the early postoperative edema and 1 patient (20%) developed corneal decompensation 1 year after DSO. Both patients underwent successful Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty. The remaining 3 patients had stable corrected distance visual acuity, progressive reduction of corneal ultrasound pachymetry, and mild myopic shift of the refractive spherical equivalent over the follow-up time. An improvement in posterior stromal opacities and irregular astigmatism was observed, whereas posterior elevation at Scheimpflug tomography remained unchanged. Conclusion At 5 years postoperatively, DSO with a scraping technique and without Rho-kinase inhibitors resulted in sustained clinical amelioration of 3 of 5 patients (60%) with mild FED.