Descemet's Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty versus Descemet's Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty in the Fellow Eye for Fuchs Endothelial Dystrophy: A Retrospective Study.

Aim: To evaluate visual outcome and endothelial cell density (ECD) after Descemet's Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty (DMEK) in comparison with Descemet's Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty (DSAEK) in the fellow eye for Fuchs endothelial dystrophy (FED).

Design: Single-centre, retrospective case series.

Methods: 30 eyes of 30 patients undergoing DMEK, who completed a 1-year follow-up, were compared with 30 fellow eyes which underwent DSAEK for bilateral FED. Main outcome measures studied included Best Corrected Visual Acuity (BCVA) and ECD during a 1-year follow-up period.

Results: BCVA improved from 0.78 ± 0.35 logMAR, and 0.73 ± 0.31 logMAR before surgery to 0.22 ± 0.1 logMAR and 0.35 ± 0.12 logMAR 6 months after DMEK and DSEK, respectively (P < 0.001). At one year after surgery, the BCVA was maintained at 0.21 ± 0.12 logMAR and 0.34 ± 0.1 logMAR, respectively, after DMEK and DSAEK. A statistically better visual outcome was observed after DMEK compared to DSAEK (P < 0.05) in fellow eyes.

Conclusions: DMEK provided better visual rehabilitation when compared to DSAEK. Nevertheless, there were no significant differences with regard to the ECD within a 1-year follow-up.