LAUSR

PURPOSE The goal of this study was to determine changes in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), refractive error, and central corneal thickness (CCT) during the first decade after Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK). METHODS Outcomes of all consecutive eyes undergoing DSAEK for Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) were reviewed; eyes with untreatable comorbidities before DSAEK were excluded. DSAEK was performed through a temporal incision and all eyes were pseudophakic postoperatively. Changes in BCVA, manifest spherical equivalent, manifest cylinder (vector analysis), and CCT were assessed by using generalized estimating equation models. RESULTS BCVA improved between 6 months (0.18 ± 0.12 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR); Snellen equivalent, 20/30) and 5 years (0.10 ± 0.10 logMAR; 20/25; n = 74, P < 0.001) and then remained stable at 10 years (0.09 ± 0.10 logMAR, n = 48, P = 0.22). There was a myopic shift of -0.20 ± 0.51 D between 6 months and 5 years (n = 65, P = 0.002) that remained stable at 10 years (-0.09 ± 0.44 D; 20/25; n = 34, P = 0.33). Manifest cylinder drifted with-the-rule between 6 months and 5 years (n = 65, P < 0.001) and between 5 and 10 years (n = 34, P < 0.001). CCT was stable between 6 months (672 ± 57 μm) and 5 years (677 ± 55 μm, n = 67, P = 0.47), but increased at 10 years (702 ± 60 μm, n = 39, P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Excellent BCVA can be achieved during the first decade after DSAEK for FECD, although improvement seems to plateau after 5 years. Changes in manifest refractive error were not clinically significant. The gradual increase in CCT was consistent with longer-term changes found after other types of keratoplasty.