Purpose: In patients with corneal melt, pretreatment crosslinking (CXL) of donor tissue prior to placement of Boston keratoprosthesis (K-Pro I) decreases graft failure. We report a case of corneal sparing in a phthisical eye following penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) with pretreatment CXL of the donor cornea.
Observations: A 69-year-old female with a history of familial aniridia and bilateral K-Pro I placement. Her clinical course was complicated by recurrent corneal melt and hypotony in the left eye, resulting in extraction of the K-Pro I and successive PKP with pretreatment CXL of the donor cornea. She subsequently developed phthisis of the globe with notable retention of corneal structure. At 8 years, she maintains corneal contour without recurrence of keratolysis or extension of phthisis.
Conclusions and importance: This is the first reported case of corneal sparing in a phthisical eye with a history of PKP, suggesting a protective role of pretreatment CXL of donor tissue against keratolysis and phthisis.
Keywords: Corneal crosslinking; Keratoprostthesis; Penetrating keratoplasty; Phthisis.
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