One-Year Front Versus Central and Paracentral Corneal Changes After Bowman Layer Transplantation for Keratoconus

Purpose To report the front corneal versus central and paracentral corneal changes after Bowman layer transplantation for keratoconus in a tertiary hospital in the United Kingdom. Methods Five eyes of 5 patients receiving Bowman layer transplant for advanced keratoconus in Royal Gwent Hospital (Newport, United Kingdom) were included. Preoperative and postoperative visual acuity; Kmax; Kmean, and corneal cylinder in the front cornea, 4.5 mm central, and 6 mm central; and corneal thickness were analyzed. Results Corneal flattening and reduction in corneal astigmatism was observed, more marked in the central and paracentral zone, allowing for improvement in best-corrected visual acuity with the aid of visual correction in 4 eyes. Conclusions These results support previous data reporting Bowman layer transplantation as a useful strategy in the treatment of advanced keratoconus and suggest greater attention may be focused on central or paracentral corneal changes.