Diamond burr treatment of poor vision from anterior basement membrane dystrophy.

PURPOSE: To determine the outcome of patients with decreased vision associated with anterior basement membrane dystrophy (ABMD) managed with diamond burr (DB) polishing.

DESIGN

Retrospective nonrandomized case series.

METHODS

A chart review of all patients with ABMD who underwent epithelial debridement and DB polishing to treat visual disturbances resulting from corneal epithelial irregularity was performed.

RESULTS

Ten patients' charts were analyzed. The mean age was 57.4 years. DB treatment was performed in 13 eyes. The average preoperative BCVA was 0.40 (20/50). At the last follow-up (mean 21.8 months) the average visual acuity of these patients was 0.88 (20/23), significantly better than pre-operative readings (P < .001). There was no recurrence of dystrophic changes in the treatment zone seen with the slit lamp during the follow-up period.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, DB polishing was shown to be an effective and safe treatment for decreased vision caused by to ABMD over an average follow-up of 21.8 months.