Clinical Outcomes of Repeat Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty After Graft Failure.

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical outcomes after repeat Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) for technical failure (TF) and secondary graft failure (SGF).

Methods: Retrospective analysis of 49 eyes that underwent repeat DMEK either for TF (ie, persistent graft detachment, n = 24) or for SGF (ie, late endothelial graft failure, n = 25). Surgery indications for primary DMEK were Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD, 80%) and bullous keratopathy (BK, 20%). Main outcome measures were best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), endothelial cell density (ECD), corneal backscattering, pachymetry, and graft survival. Outcomes were compared with an age-matched control group of 49 primary DMEK eyes.

Results: Logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution BCVA improved from 0.92 ± 0.6 before to 0.20 ± 0.3 at 1 year after repeat DMEK with better outcomes for eyes with TF than those with SGF ( P = 0.046). Donor ECD decreased from 2618 ± 171 cells/mm 2 before to 1247 ± 422 cells/mm 2 at 1 year postoperatively, with no difference between technical TF and SGF eyes ( P > 0.05). One-year BCVA and ECD outcomes were better in the control group than in the repeat DMEK group ( P < 0.05). Five-year graft survival probability after repeat DMEK was better for TF than for SGF eyes (100% vs. 75%, P = 0.010) and better for eyes with FECD than BK as primary indication for surgery (92% vs. 65%, P = 0.042).

Conclusions: Repeat DMEK gives acceptable clinical outcomes especially when performed for TF in the early period after primary DMEK. Long-term graft survival probability after repeat DMEK is comparable to primary DMEK for FECD eyes, whereas BK eyes may show an elevated risk to develop graft failure again.