Background and objective: Corneal edema during penetrating keratoplasty (PK) precludes the visualization of the fundus required to perform vitreoretinal surgery. In this study, the clearing of the cornea and fundus visualization with dextran 40 following PK was evaluated.
Patients and methods: Topical dextran 40 was used in 12 eyes that underwent uncomplicated PK (phase 1) and in 5 eyes that underwent combined PK with vitreoretinal surgery (phase 2).
Results: Clearing of the cornea and visualization of the fundus were observed in all eyes after dextran had been instilled for a mean of 4 and 5 minutes in eyes for phase 1 and 2, respectively. Vitreoretinal surgery could successfully be performed after PK in all eyes of phase 2.
Conclusion: Topical use of dextran 40 following PK produces enough clearing of the cornea to enable visualization of the fundus for further vitreoretinal procedures after the graft has been sutured.