title: Influence of final corneal thickness in visual acuity after deep lamellar endothelial keratoplasty.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine if the final corneal thickness after deep lamellar endothelial keratoplasty (DLEK) is correlated in any way with visual performance.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred fifty-five consecutive eyes without macular disease underwent DLEK surgery and had pachymetry recorded at 6 months postoperatively. The eyes were grouped according to visual acuity, and pachymetry was correlated between groups: group 1 (20/20, 20/25, or 20/30), n = 38; group 2 (20/40 or 20/50), n = 79; group 3 (20/60, 20/70, or 20/80), n = 30; group 4 (20/100 or worse), n = 8.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean pachymetry, SD, and range of pachymetry for each group are as follows: group 1, 0.571 +/- 0.080 mm (range, 0.408-0.784 mm); group 2, 0.598 +/- 0.080 mm (range, 0.437-0.816 mm); group 3, 0.605 +/- 0.099 mm (range, 0.454-0.945 mm); group 4, 0.607 +/- 0.120 mm (range, 0.410-0.781 mm). There was no significant correlation between vision and corneal thickness (P = 0.312). There was no statistical difference in pachymetry among all 4 groups (P = 0.323). The influence of pachymetry in visual acuity is not relevant (r = 0.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The variance in corneal thickness in DLEK does not seem to influence visual results.
authors.affiliation: Santa Casa de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil. marcon@terra.com.br
authors.forename: Alexandre S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Marcon
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Terry
authors.forename: Newton
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kara-José
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wall
authors.forename: Paula J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Ousley
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hoar
mesh_terms: D003315:Cornea / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016039:Corneal Transplantation / Q000502:physiology*; D004728:Endothelium, Corneal / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000637:transplantation*; D006801:Humans; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*