Phacoemulsification Under the Complex Dua Layer-Descemet-Endothelium for Combined Cataract Surgery and Penetrating Keratoplasty After Failed Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to report the surgical management of an eye with a cataract and a failed deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) graft. Given the null visualization of the anterior chamber, instead of performing penetrating keratoplasty (PK) combined with open-sky extracapsular extraction, the cleavage plane of the previous DALK was used to expose the transparent complex including Dua layer (DL)-Descemet membrane (DM)-endothelium and to perform phacoemulsification in a closed system; then, PK was completed after the surgical removal of the complex DL-DM-endothelium.

METHODS: This study is a case report.

RESULTS: A 45-year-old woman with corneal opacity due to Acanthamoeba keratitis underwent multiple (n = 2) DALK surgeries. The second DALK graft underwent failure, with the development of severe corneal edema; a dense opacity of the lens was also present. The patient was scheduled for combined PK and cataract surgery. Because the cornea was too opaque to allow closed-system cataract surgery, a partial trephination was performed with the purpose of reopening the old donor-host junction and finding the deep cleavage plane. This maneuver permitted the exposition of the complex DL-DM-endothelium that was completely transparent, thus allowing standard phacoemulsification using the phaco-chop technique. A full-thickness corneal graft was then positioned and sutured.

CONCLUSIONS: This case confirms the toughness of the complex DL-DM-endothelium and reveals the transparency of this complex even in the presence of a failed endothelium, thus highlighting distinct advantages of our surgical approach over the conventional one involving PK combined with open-sky extracapsular extraction.