Transplant size and elevated intraocular pressure. Postkeratoplasty

T. Zimmerman, R. Olson, S. Waltman and H. Kaufman

Elevated intraocular pressure after keratoplasty is a well-recognized phenomenon both in aphakia and in combined lens extraction and penetrating keratoplasty. Ninety-two consecutive cases of penetrating keratoplasty procedures were studied. These were randomly assigned to group A or B. Group A received a donor transplant 0.5 mm larger than the recipient bed. Group B received donor buttons equal in size to the recipient bed. Intraocular pressure was measured preoperatively and daily until the patients were discharged. Group A, which had aphakic penetrating keratoplasty or the combined procedure (0.5-mm larger button), also had significantly lower intraocular pressures (P less than .001) than group B (same size button). There was no difference in postoperative intraocular pressure between groups A and B for those who had phakic penetrating keratoplasties. A larger donor size can alleviate induced "aphakic keratoplasty glaucoma."