Abstract
Purpose::
To report the acute (1 week) post-operative visual rehabilitation in eyes implanted with the Boston Type 1 Keratoprothesis
Methods::
Forms containing pre-operative and post-operative visual acuity were collected at one central site from 17 different surgical sites. 2 year follow-up visual acuity and retention rates were previously reported.
Results::
97 eyes (49%) from the total of 199 eyes in the study implanted have follow-up data within the first seven days postoperatively. Of these eyes, 59% had multiple failed grafts. The average number of prior graft failures was 2.8 with a range from 1 to 6. 14% of patients had a coexisting autoimmune disease and 9% had suffered a chemical injury. 12.3% obtained vision of 20/40 or better and 50.5% had vision of 20/200 or better. This is compared with 0% (20/40 or better) and 8.2% (20/200 or better) pre-operatively from the same patients.
Conclusions::
The Boston Type 1 Keratoprosthesis appears to offer patients who suffer corneal blindness and a poor prognosis for penetrating keratoplasty a rapid improvement in vision.
Keywords: keratoprostheses • cornea: clinical science • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: treatment/prevention assessment/controlled clinical trials