Subfoveal choroidal thickness increases after excimer laser-assisted penetrating keratoplasty but not after excimer laser-assisted deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty

Abstract

To evaluate the impact of excimer laser-assisted deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (Exc-DALK) and excimer laser-assisted penetrating keratoplasty (Exc-PKP) on subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) in eyes with advanced keratoconus. A retrospective comparative clinical study, which compares the outcomes of 24 eyes treated with Exc-DALK (G1) against matched group of 43 eyes treated with Exc-PKP (G2) at both 2 months (T1) and 2 years (T2) postoperatively. Main outcomes included bestcorrected visual acuity (BCVA), central macular thickness (CMT), and SFCT. Preoperatively, there were no signifcant diferences between both groups regarding BCVA, CMT or SFCT (p> 0.05). There were no signifcant diferences between both groups regarding BCVA at both follow-ups (p> 0.05). There were no signifcant diferences between both groups regarding CMT at both follow-ups (p> 0.05). SFCT was higher in G2 than G1 at both follow-ups (p < 0.01). Compared to preoperative SFCT, there were no signifcant changes in SFCT in G1 at both follow-ups (p > 0.05). In G2, SFCT increased signifcantly at T1 (p < 0.01) and did not difer signifcantly at T2 (p= 0.17). SFCT increased signifcantly after Exc-PKP but not after Exc-DALK, which might indicate that Exc-DALK afects the choroid less and thus could represent a less traumatic approach to ocular tissue than Exc-PKP.