“Sclero-DALK”: New approach for treatment of superficial corneal leukoma

PURPOSE: Present a new technique to perform a deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) that could be an alternative to the “Big Bubble” or the Melles technique. OBSERVATIONS: The case concerns a 48 years old man who presents superficial corneal leukoma in the left eye secondary to ocular trauma 14 years ago. Sclero-DALK is performed under general anesthesia obtaining an excellent visual and refractive result. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPORTANCE: Sclero-DALK is a novelty in surgical treatment of corneal surface opacities. It offers the same advantages than conventional DALK since it is also a non-penetrating extraocular technique. Better final visual acuities are expected with this technique in comparision with PK and the conventional DALK because less residual stroma can be remained since we acces directly to the predescemetic space.