Results of penetrating keratoplasty after epikeratophakia for keratoconus in the nationwide study.

In the Nationwide Study of Epikeratophakia, 22 eyes underwent penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) after epikeratophakia for keratoconus. Reasons for PKP included visual acuity unsatisfactory to the patients (6 eyes), recipient corneal scarring (4 eyes), recipient Descemet's folds (3 eyes), scarring in the tissue lens (2 eyes), vascularization of the tissue lens (2 eyes), astigmatism (2 eyes), failure of the tissue lens to reepithelialize (1 eye), corneal ulcer (1 eye), and scarring of the donor and recipient cornea (1 eye). After PKP, all patients had clear grafts and 20/40 or better visual acuity. Average follow-up was 17 months. Three of the 22 patients (13.6%) had graft reaction episodes, all of which were treated successfully, resulting in clear grafts. The authors conclude that previous epikeratophakia does not adversely affect the outcome of subsequent PKP for keratoconus.