Objetive:

Compare the complications of deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty and penetrating keratoplasty in the surgical treatment of keratoconus.

Methods:

An analytical prospective longitudinal study was conducted of 81 patients undergoing keratoplasty and diagnosed with keratoconus. The variables analyzed were cylinder, spherical component, cell density, and preoperative and postoperative complications. Statistical analysis was based on Student's t-test for comparison of means for paired data in the event of two average values.

Results:

Cylinder was -3.50 ± 1.50 for deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty and -2.77 ± 0.98 for penetrating keratoplasty. Postoperative cell density was 2 333.6 cell/mm2 for deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty and 2 269.3 cell/mm2 for penetrating keratoplasty. 75% of the patients undergoing deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty and 82.7% of those undergoing penetrating keratoplasty evolved without any complication. The most common complications were microperforation, secondary glaucoma and Urretz-Zavalia syndrome (12.5% each) for deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty, and endothelial rejection (18.2%) and epithelial defect (9.1%) for penetrating keratoplasty.

Conclusions:

In deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty endothelial cell loss is slower in the first year and complications are scant.

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