
==== Front
BMJ Open Ophthalmol
BMJ Open Ophthalmol
bmjophth
bmjophth
BMJ Open Ophthalmology
2397-3269
BMJ Group BMA House, Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9JR

37282710
bmjophth-2022-EEBA.37
10.1136/bmjophth-2022-EEBA.37
Poster Abstracts
1506
37 Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK): 10-year clinical outcomes and graft survival
Herdt Louise De 1
Vasiliauskaitė Indrè 23
Kocaba Viridiana 123
van Dijk Korine 23
van der Wees Jacqueline 123
Baydoun Lamis 2
Melles Gerrit RJ 123
Oellerich Silke 2
1 Amnitrans EyeBank Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
2 Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery, Rotterdam, Netherlands
3 Melles Cornea Clinic, Rotterdam, Netherlands
2022
16 11 2022
7 Suppl 2 Abstracts of the European Eye Bank Association Virtual Meeting, 3–5 March 2022 A15A16
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
2022
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ .

Purpose

To evaluate graft survival and clinical outcomes up to 10 years after Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK).

Setting/Venue

Retrospective cohort study conducted at the Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery.

Methods

750 consecutive DMEK eyes, not including the very first 25 DMEK eyes that constitute the technique learning curve, were included. Main outcome parameters (survival, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central endothelial cell density (ECD)) was evaluated up to 10-years postoperatively and postoperative complications were documented. Outcomes were analyzed for the entire study group and separately for the subgroup of the first 100 DMEK eyes.

Results

For the subgroup of 100 DMEK eyes, 82% and 89% reached a BCVA of ≥20/25 (Decimal VA ≥0.8) at 5- and 10 years postoperatively, respectively, and preoperative donor ECD decreased by 59% at 5 years and 68% at 10 years postoperatively. Graft survival probability for the first 100 DMEK eyes was 0.83 [95% Confidence Interval (CI), 0.75-0.92] and 0.79 [95% CI, 0.70 -0.88] at 5- and 10-years postoperatively, respectively. For the total study group, clinical outcome in terms of BCVA and ECD were comparable, but graft survival probability was significantly higher at 5- and 10-year postoperatively.

Conclusions

Most eyes operated in the pioneering phase of DMEK showed excellent and stable clinical outcomes with a promising graft longevity over the first decade after surgery. The increase in DMEK experience resulted in a lower graft failure rate and positively affected longer-term graft survival probability.

special-featureunlocked
==== Body
pmc
