Traumatic Wound Dehiscence following Corneal Transplantation

PURPOSE: To investigate the incidence, mechanisms, characteristics, and visual outcomes of traumatic wound dehiscence following keratoplasty. METHODS: Medical records of 32 consecutive patients with traumatic globe rupture following keratoplasty who had been treated at our center from 2001 to 2009 were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: The study population consisted of 32 eyes of 32 patients including 25 men and 7 women with history of corneal transplantation who had sustained eye trauma leading to globe rupture. Mean patient age was 38.1 (range, 8 to 87) years and median interval between keratoplasty and the traumatic event was 9 months (range, 30 days to 20 years). Associated anterior segment findings included iris prolapse in 71.9%, lens extrusion in 34.4%, and hyphema in 40.6% of eyes. Posterior segment complications included vitreous prolapse (56%), vitreous hemorrhage (28%) and retinal detachment (18%). Eyes which had undergone deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK; 5 cases, 15.6%) tended to have less severe presentation and better final visual acuity. There was no correlation between the time interval from keratoplasty to the traumatic event, and final visual outcomes. CONCLUSION: The host-graft interface demonstrates decreased stability long after surgery and the visual prognosis of traumatic wound dehiscence is poor in many cases. An intact Descemet’s membrane in DALK may mitigate the severity of ocular injuries, but even in these cases, the visual outcome of globe rupture is not good and prevention of ocular trauma should be emphasized to all patients undergoing any kind of keratoplasty.