Features and Outcomes of Penetrating Keratoplasty in Combined Opto-reconstructive Surgery for Combat Eye Injury and its Complication

Purpose: to evaluate the features and outcomes of penetrating keratoplasty in combined opto-reconstructive surgery for combat eye injury and its complications.Patients and methods. The study enrolled 17 eyes (16 men) aged 34.00 ± 12.51 years, divided into 2 groups: I — with inflammatory diseases of the anterior segment, complicated combat eye injury (4 eyes), II — with open eye injury (OGI, 13 eyes). Patients underwent examination to reveal and localize damaged intraocular structures and intraocular foreign bodies (IOFB), determine the prognosis of visual functions, as well as impression cytology. In all cases penetrating keratoplasty was performed, as well as complex of vitreoretinal surgery if it was needed. In the postoperative period, visual acuity, the timing of epithelialization, and graft transparency were assessed. Period of observation was 4,5 ± 2,1 months.Results. Group I had severe keratouveitis, when intraocular structures were intact also as electrophysiological parameters. The presence of mucosal cells was determined in 50 % of cases. The number of surgery was 2.00 ± 0.82. Graft epithelialization was completed in 38.99 ± 35.43 days. Postoperatively all grafts had transparent retention and complete epithelialization, also as had high visual acuity (0.25 ± 0.10) was noted. Group II had damaged several intraocular structures and varying electrophysiological parameters. The epithelial phenotype was corneal all over. The average number of surgical treatments was 3.00 ± 1.48. The time of graft epithelialization was significantly less — 17.66 ± 8.69 days (p = 0.014). Corrected visual acuity ranged from zero (30.77 %) to 0.3 (0.08 ± 0.11) and was significantly less than in group I (p = 0.018). The parameters that correlated low visual acuity were aphakia, the level of electrical sensitivity, the number of surgical interventions, and the age of patients.Conclusions. Penetrating keratoplasty functional results prognosis is better in group with infectious complications of combat eye injury with reduced cornea transparency than in patient with open globe injury. Besides light perception and conducting structures (retina, optical nerve) lesion, optico-reconstructive surgery in open globe injury often leads to single-chamber formation in silicone filled eye, which significantly worsens the functional prognosis of treatment.