Outcome of a penetrating keratoplasty in a 3-month-old child with sclerocornea

Dominika Pohlmann; Mirjam Rossel; Daniel J Salchow; Eckart Bertelmann

doi:10.3205/oc000162

Outcome of a penetrating keratoplasty in a 3-month-old child with sclerocornea

GMS Ophthalmol Cases. 2020 Aug 7:10:Doc35. doi: 10.3205/oc000162. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Dominika Pohlmann¹, Mirjam Rossel¹, Daniel J Salchow¹, Eckart Bertelmann¹

Affiliation

¹ Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.

Abstract

Sclerocornea is a rare congenital anomaly with clouding of the peripheral cornea that possibly extends up to the center of the cornea. Characteristically, a clear distinction (limbus) between sclera and cornea is lacking. Early surgical treatment is essential for preventing amblyopia, but penetrating keratoplasty in children carries a relatively high risk of complications. Especially for sclerocornea, penetrating keratoplasty has generally been reported to have a poor surgical outcome and a high risk of complications, including corneoscleral adhesions. Here, we report the 4-year follow-up on a child with sclerocornea, who was successfully operated on at the age of 3 months and had a favorable outcome. Our findings suggest that in some cases, penetrating keratoplasty may be an option to treat sclerocornea in young children.

Keywords: congenital corneal opacity; graft survival; pediatric keratoplasty; sclerocornea.

Publication types

Case Reports