title: Retrospective contralateral study comparing deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty with penetrating keratoplasty: a patient's perspective.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the visual outcomes and the perspective of patients after deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) and penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) in the contralateral eyes of a cohort of patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective comparative case series.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten patients (20 eyes) who underwent DALK in 1 eye and PKP in the fellow eye.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this fellow eye, comparative retrospective case series, visual outcomes were compared in 10 patients (20 eyes) who underwent DALK in 1 eye and PKP in their fellow eye between 1995 and 2009. Visual and refractive outcomes including higher-order aberrations were assessed. Patient satisfaction for both procedures was evaluated using a subjective questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no significant difference in visual or refractive outcomes between the procedures. However, 8 of 10 patients (80%) preferred the PKP eye for vision and overall satisfaction (p = 0.02). Mean follow-up time for the PKP group was 8.4 ± 4.5 years (median, 8.5 years; range, 3-17 years), whereas the mean follow-up time for the DALK group was 2.5 ± 1.6 years (median, 2 years; range, 1-6 years) (p = 0.01). The intra- and postoperative complication rates were low and comparable between both procedures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  More patients prefer the PKP-operated eye when compared with the DALK-operated eye, although there were no significant differences in visual and refractive outcomes between the 2 procedures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Toronto Western Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont. sonia.y@gmail.com
authors.forename: Sonia N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Yeung
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lichtinger
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Maoz D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Amiran
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Rootman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003316:Corneal Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016039:Corneal Transplantation; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015948:Keratoplasty, Penetrating; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012029:Refraction, Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult