Purpose: To determine if the final corneal thickness after deep lamellar endothelial keratoplasty (DLEK) is correlated in any way with visual performance.
Methods: One hundred fifty-five consecutive eyes without macular disease underwent DLEK surgery and had pachymetry recorded at 6 months postoperatively. The eyes were grouped according to visual acuity, and pachymetry was correlated between groups: group 1 (20/20, 20/25, or 20/30), n = 38; group 2 (20/40 or 20/50), n = 79; group 3 (20/60, 20/70, or 20/80), n = 30; group 4 (20/100 or worse), n = 8.
Results: The mean pachymetry, SD, and range of pachymetry for each group are as follows: group 1, 0.571 +/- 0.080 mm (range, 0.408-0.784 mm); group 2, 0.598 +/- 0.080 mm (range, 0.437-0.816 mm); group 3, 0.605 +/- 0.099 mm (range, 0.454-0.945 mm); group 4, 0.607 +/- 0.120 mm (range, 0.410-0.781 mm). There was no significant correlation between vision and corneal thickness (P = 0.312). There was no statistical difference in pachymetry among all 4 groups (P = 0.323). The influence of pachymetry in visual acuity is not relevant (r = 0.03).
Conclusions: The variance in corneal thickness in DLEK does not seem to influence visual results.