Etiology and outcome of penetrating keratoplasty in bullous keratopathy post-cataract surgery vs post-glaucoma surgery.

PURPOSE: To investigate the causes of bullous keratopathy (BK) in the Korean population and analyze the results of penetrating keratoplasty (PK) in BK eyes associated with the top two causes: pseudophakic bullous keratopathy (PBK) and glaucoma surgery-associated BK (GBK). METHODS: Medical records were reviewed of patients diagnosed with BK at a tertiary referral center between 2010 and 2020. The predisposing conditions, clinical characteristics and therapeutic outcomes after PK were analyzed and compared. RESULTS: Of total 340 BK eyes, 70% (238 eyes) were associated with ocular surgery; most commonly, cataract surgery (48%, 162 eyes) and glaucoma surgery/laser (21%, 70 eyes). The BK onset was faster following glaucoma surgery/laser (91.7 ± 94.4 months) than following cataract surgery (160.7 ± 138.0 months, p < 0.001). The median survival time of allografts was shorter in GBK than in PBK (24.0 vs 51.0 months, p = 0.020). Best-corrected logMAR visual acuities were lower in GBK than in PBK after PK (1.4 ± 0.7 vs 0.9 ± 0.6, p = 0.017 at one year; 1.8 ± 0.7 vs 1.1 ± 0.8, p = 0.043 at three years). CONCLUSIONS: Intraocular surgery is the major predisposing condition of BK in Korea. GBK developed earlier and its therapeutic outcome was poorer, compared to PBK.