RESUMO
AIMS: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of pre-Descemet's membrane (DM) sutures associated with intracameral air injection for management of acute corneal hydrops associated with keratoconus. METHODS: We carried out a retrospective interventional study of seven consecutive cases. Three to seven pre-DM sutures with 10-0 nylon were applied perpendicularly to the tear as close as possible to DM, under general anaesthesia. An air bubble was injected into the anterior chamber at the end of each procedure. RESULTS: Corneal oedema began to decrease from day 1 after surgery in all our patients. Best-corrected visual acuity progressed from 2.13 to 1.65 logMar (p=0.031) 1â month after surgery, and from 2.13 to 0.84 logMar (p=0.016) 2â months after surgery. The mean corneal thickness measured by anterior segment optical coherence tomography decreased from 1472â µm (range 689-2770â µm) on day 0 to 909â µm (range 484-1640â µm) on day 1 (p=0.016), 716â µm (range 484-1380â µm) on day 15 (p=0.016) and 528â µm (range 404-618â µm) 1â month after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that intrastromal pre-DM sutures and intracameral air injection could promptly restore imperviousness of posterior stroma. This technique seems to be a safe and useful procedure to shorten acute corneal hydrops.