Purpose: Epithelial downgrowth is a vision-threatening complication of intraocular surgery or penetrating ocular trauma, and although various therapeutic interventions have been performed to treat this disease, success has been limited. We present a case of corneal decompensation secondary to epithelial downgrowth after uncomplicated clear corneal cataract surgery in the left eye, treated successfully with sequential transcorneal cryotherapy to destroy epithelial cell nests followed by Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) to restore corneal clarity and vision.
Methods: We applied a transcorneal cryotherapy probe using a double freeze-thaw technique at -80°C to the entire cornea, with care taken to spare the limbus except at the superior temporal quadrant overlying the clear corneal incision where treatment was applied intentionally. The same procedure was performed 2 weeks later to ensure complete ablation of epithelial nest cells. Uncomplicated DMEK surgery using standard technique was performed 1 week later to restore corneal clarity.
Results: Visual acuity at presentation was 20/40. Endothelial cell densities were 2138 cells/mm (22% loss) and 1720 cells/mm (37% loss) at 3- and 12-months after DMEK, respectively. Two years after surgery, the best-corrected visual acuity remained 20/20 and the patient had no evidence of recurrence or limbal stem cell deficiency.
Conclusions: The use of sequential cryotherapy as a targeted intervention to destroy invasive corneal epithelial cells followed by staged DMEK surgery to replace damaged corneal endothelium was, in this case, an effective treatment for endothelial decompensation secondary to epithelial downgrowth and may be a potential alternative for the management of this disease.