Aim: to present our experience with microkeratome-assisted anterior lamellar keratoplasty using a manual microkeratome.
Materials and methods: left eye of a 67 year old man was operated with microkeratome-assisted lamellar keratoplasty to remove a central corneal scar of the anterior stroma and to reduce secondary high-degree irregular astigmia caused by pterygium remnant. Videokeratography was performed to record the status of the cornea.
Results: postoperative best-corrected visual acuity was superior to preoperative value which was 0.6 with +7.0 spherical and -2.0 cylindrical Diopters before the operation. Uncorrected visual acuity improved from 0.15 to 0.6. The topographical cylinder decreased from 7.98 D to 3.79 D, surface asymmetry index from 2.42 to 1.48, surface regularity index form 3.24 to 1.72. Minimum keratometry reading increased from 38.35 to 41.69.
Conclusion: microkeratome-assisted anterior lamellar keratoplasty seems to be safe and effective to remove corneal scars and reduce high degree irregular astigmia, moreover, to improve visual acuity.