Clinical outcomes of pre-loaded ultra-thin DSAEK and pre-loaded DMEK

objective to compare clinical outcomes and complications between pre-loaded ultra-thin descemet stripping automated endothelialkeratoplasty (pl-UT-DSAEK) and pre-loaded descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (pl-DMEK). methods and analysis comparative study in patients with endothelial dysfunction associated with fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy and pseudophakic bullous keratopathy who underwent pl-UT-DSAEK or pl-DMEK transplants. for both groups, the tissues were pre-loaded at the fondazione cbanca degli occhi del veneto (venice, Italy) and shipped to vthe royal liverpool university hospital (liverpool, UK). best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and re-bubbling rates were the main outcome measures. results 56 eyes of 56 patients were included. 31 received pl-UT-DSAEK and 25 received pl-DMEK. At 12 months, BCVA (LogMAR) was significantly better for pl-DMEK (0.17 +/- 0.20 LogMAR) compared with pl-UT-DSAEK (0.37 +/- 0.37 LogMAR, p<0.01). the percentage of people that achieved >= 20/30 was significantly higher in the pl-DMEK group. the rate of re-bubbling, however, was significantly higher for pl-DMEK (44.0%) than for Pl-UT-DSAEK (12.9%), pConclusion Pl-DMEK offers better BCVA than pl-UT-DSAEK. the higher re-bubbling rate associated with pre-loaded DMEK is of concern.