A clinical case of a combined method for correcting postkeratoplastic astigmatism of a high degree in a patient with cataract

Abstract

Background. Performing penetrating keratoplasty in 100 % of cases leads to the occurrence of induced postkeratoplasty astigmatism, which can be more than 12,0 D. If cataracts occur in this category of patients, performing cataract phacoemulsification with implantation of a toric intraocular lens (tIOL) does not completely solve the problem. The use of the method of implantation of intrastromal corneal segments at stage I before cataract phacoemulsification makes it possible to reduce the degree of postkeratoplasty astigmatism and create optimal conditions for additional correction of residual postkeratoplasty astigmatism due to the implantation of tIOL during cataract phacoemulsification.The aim. To analyze the clinical and functional indicators of correction of regular high-grade postkeratoplasty astigmatism in a patient with cataracts using a combined method, including first implantation of intrastromal corneal segments and subsequent cataract phacoemulsification with implantation of toric intraocular lens using the example of a clinical case.Material and methods. A 55-year-old patient with cataracts, who had a history of  undergoing penetrating keratoplasty, contacted us. According to the keratotopogram data, a regular postkeratoplasty astigmatism of 18.68 D was diagnosed. The patient underwent a combined method. At stage I, intrastromal corneal segments were implanted into the corneal graft, then after 6 months stage II was performed – cataract phacoemulsification with implantation of tIOL.Results. Six months after intrastromal corneal segments implantation, the patient’s keratometric data stabilized, and corneal astigmatism decreased to 8.98 D. Then the patient underwent cataract phacoemulsification with tIOL implantation. After 1 month, the spherical component of refraction was 0.5 D, the cylindrical component of refraction was –0.5 D, visual acuity increased to 1.0.Conclusions. A combined method for correcting regular high-grade postkeratoplasty astigmatism in a patient with cataracts showed high refractive results, stability and safety in the long-term postoperative period.