The effect of femtosecond laser lamellar dissection at various depths on corneal endothelium in the recipient bed of the porcine eye.

Background And Objective: To evaluate the effect of femtosecond laser lamellar dissection on corneal endothelium ultrastructure and viability.

Materials And Methods: Newly enucleated porcine eyes (N = 32) were used. The eyes were divided into four groups and a 7.5-mm diameter corneal lamellar dissection with the same size side cut at various depths was performed using a 60-kHz femtosecond laser with raster and spiral lamellar pattern. The endothelium was examined using scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy with Alizarin red staining.

Results: All four groups showed similar corneal endothelial cell morphology and viability at the center of the endothelium regardless of the lamellar cut pattern (P > .05). In groups 2 and 3, linear dotted endothelial cell damage or folding correlating with the side cut was observed.

Conclusion: Using femtosecond lasers for stromal dissection and side cutting was safe for the central endothelium and caused only minimal damage to the peripheral endothelium, regardless of the laser emission pattern.