Treatment of Acute Corneal Hydrops With Combined Intracameral Gas and Approximation Sutures in Patients With Corneal Ectasia.

PURPOSE: To assess the efficacy and safety of combined intracameral sulfur hexafluoride and full-thickness corneal sutures in the treatment of acute corneal hydrops (CH).

METHODS

This is an uncontrolled series of cases with keratoconus (KC), keratoglobus (KG), and pellucid marginal degeneration that presented with CH of recent onset.

RESULT: Thirteen patients completed the study. The mean corneal thickness before treatment was 1,310 (Equation is included in full-text article.)556 μm, which significantly reduced to 660 ± 148 μm at week 1 postoperatively (P = 0.001). It took 11.5 ± 6.5 days for corneal edema to resolve with a minimum and maximum of 5 and 24 days, respectively. Corrected distance Snellen visual acuity (CDVA) significantly improved from 0.04 ± 0.03 before treatment to 0.08 ± 0.06 at week 1 (P = 0.035) and continued to improve through month 1 [(0.11 ± 0.05), P = 0.007] and month 3 [(0.15 ± 0.08), P = 0.002]. No patient needed re-treatment with gas injection, and no complication was detected during the follow-up period.

CONCLUSIONS

Combined intracameral gas injection and approximation sutures are probably effective and safe for the treatment of acute CH. This treatment results in rapid recovery with very rare complications.