Graft survival rate of deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty for keratoconus: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) is an optional treatment for patients with keratoconus, and the associated graft survival rate varies. Herein, we aimed to explore the graft survival rate of DALK in patients with keratoconus. METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science, and ProQuest databases were searched to retrieve the related articles. General data, clinical characters, and graft survival rates were obtained directly from the included studies and analyzed by meta-analysis. RESULTS: A total of 12 articles were included. The merged 1-, 3-, and 5-year graft survival rates were 100% (99.9–100%, P < .001), 92.9% (89.8–95.9%, P < .001), and 90.4% (86.0–0.948%, P < .001), respectively. Lower heterogeneity was shown in each subgroup that was divided neither according to the sample number nor number of surgeons. CONCLUSION: The survival rate slightly decreases year by year, but the overall trend seems relatively stable. Ensuring that all DALK procedures are performed by a single surgeon might be helpful to improve the graft survival rate after surgery.