The study was done to analyse graft detachments prior to rebubbling, the influence of rebubbling on the postoperative outcome after Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) and the need for rebubbling on the contralateral eye.
Optical coherence tomography scans and clinical records of 499 eyes undergoing rebubbling after DMEK were examined. Main Outcome measures were that number, localisation and size of graft detachments; influence of rebubbling/s on postoperative outcome after 12 months; and rebubbling risk of the contralateral eye after DMEK.
Mean number of detachment areas was 2.02±0.9. Mean lateral diameter of all detachments was 4534.76±1920.83 μm. Mean axial diameter was 382.53±282.02 μm. Detachments were equally distributed over all regions of the cornea. Best spectacle corrected visual acuity ( BSCVA) after 12 months was 0.197±0.23 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution, endothelial cell density (ECD) was 1575.21±397.71 cells/mm2 and mean central corneal thickness (CCT) was 566.37±68.11 μm.
The overall number of rebubblings has no influence on the postoperative outcome after DMEK, if a rebubbling becomes necessary. Patients who received a rebubbling on one eye have an elevated risk for a rebubbling on the fellow eye.
Reference: https://bjo.bmj.com/content/early/2020/08/17/bjophthalmol-2020-316478
