The fellow eye of patients with aphakic bullous keratopathy.

The fellow normal-appearing eyes of 23 patients with unilateral aphakic bullous keratopathy were examined by wide-field specular microscopy and pachymetry. All patients had: pseudophakic or aphakic bullous keratopathy in one eye; unoperated fellow eye on no medication; no other ocular disease; and no endothelial guttata seen by slitlamp biomicroscopy or specular microscopy. Three of 23 patients had endothelial cell counts less than 1,000 cells/mm2. There was no correlation between cell density and corneal thickness, but a negative correlation existed between age and endothelial cell density. Preoperative specular microscopy is indicated in patients who have developed bullous keratopathy in the fellow eye after cataract surgery.