VISUAL REHABILITATION ACHIEVED BY RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY OF THE ANTERIOR SEGMENT OF THE EYE

Background The potential benefits of anterior segment surgery to achieve visual rehabilitation in severely compromised eyes subsequent to infectious complications in the anterior segment remain a subject of controversy. Patients and Methods Anterior segment reconstructive surgery was performed on twelve patients (12 eyes) with infectious adherent leukoma and extensively damaged intraocular structures. Nine patients (nine eyes) were followed up over a period of two years (20-26 months) and three over a period of nine months (8-11 months). Results Simultaneous and consecutive surgical interventions including corneal grafting, anterior chamber reconstruction and posterior chamber lens implantation combined with antimicrobial and antiviral prophylaxis as well as corticosteroid treatment resulted in visual recovery in nine eyes, and in four in a visual acuity of 0.4 or better (reading VA). Conclusions Surgery for optic reasons due to infectious adherent leukoma does not seem to be completely unsuccessful with respect to the low complication rate despite proven retrocorneal membranes in this study.