Posters

Keratoplasty indications from 1999-2014 at a tertiary referral centre in Athens, Greece

Poster Details

First Author: G.Bagikos GREECE

Co Author(s):    A. Lazaridis   C. Koutsandrea   D. Miltsakakis   K. Droutsas     

Abstract Details

Purpose:

Aim of this retrospective cohort study is to analyze the course of keratoplasty indications at a tertiary cornea department over a time period of 16 years.

Setting:

Department of Ophthalmology, University of Athens, and the State Ophthalmology Clinic, General Hospital G. Gennimatas Athens, Greece

Methods:

The present series includes all patients who received keratoplasty from 1999 to 2014 at a tertiary ophthalmology centre in Athens, Greece. Main outcome measure was the annual incidence of diverse keratoplasty indications.

Results:

1270 keratoplasty procedures were evaluated. Top 3 indications were: bullous keratopathy (BK) (36.5%), allograft rejection (17.7%) and corneal scar. In order to evaluate the incidence trend for each indication, the total observation time was divided into three periods, i.e. 1999-2003, 2004-2009 and 2010-2014. BK and FED showed an increasing trend from 28.5% and 4.6% (1999-2003) to 41.5% and 15.1% (2010-2014), respectively. KC and stromal dystrophies showed a 2-fold and corneal scar a 3-fold decrease between the first and third period. Endothelial pathology showed an increasing trend from 51.6% to 73.9%.

Conclusions:

BK was the leading keratoplasty indication with an increasing trend. This could be attributed to a high rate of complicated cataract (e.g. eyes with pseudoexfoliation syndrome or mature cataracts compared to other geographical regions). KC is no more a frequent indication, probably due to earlier diagnosis, optimized contact lens fitting or to the disease-arresting effect of the corneal crosslinking procedure. Finally, the increasing trend of FED can be attributed to the implementation of new endothelial keratoplasty techniques (DMEK and DSAEK), which are safer than penetrating keratoplasty and allow faster and better visual rehabilitation. FINANCIAL DISCLOUSRE: NONE