Emanuela Filomena Legrottaglie

Graft rejection after femtosecond laser-assisted deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty: report of 3 cases.

Purpose: To report 3 cases of stromal rejection after deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) assisted by a femtosecond laser. Methods: Three keratoconus eyes of 2 men (22 and 30 years old) and 1 woman (24 years old) who had DALK with a 60-kHz femtosecond laser developed intrastromal graft rejection with superficial and deep neovascularization after 6, 15, and 12 months, respectively. All patients underwent confocal microscopy and were treated with topical steroid therapy. Results: In vivo confocal microscopy revealed cellular inflammatory infiltrates in the subepithelial and middle stroma of the donor lamella without involvement of the endothelium. Graft rejection was rapidly reversed with topical steroid therapy, and a clear cornea was restored in all cases. Conclusions: Graft rejection remains a significant complication of lamellar surgery but is associated with good tissue restoration and complete visual recovery.

Unusual coexistence of bilateral keratoconus and optic disc pit: a case report.

Purpose To report the unknown coexistence of bilateral optic disc pit and keratoconus. Methods A 23-year-old man with bilateral keratoconus underwent complete ophthalmology screening, with an unexpected detection of undiagnosed optic disc pit in both eyes. Computerized corneal topography (CT), Orbscan, corneal pachometry, endothelial microscopy, and optical coherence tomography (OCT) examination were performed. Results The corneal CT showed a keratoconus pattern in both eyes, evolved in the right eye with a minimum corneal pachometry of 336 μm in the right eye and 405 μm in the left eye. Mean endothelial cell density was 1937 cells/mm2 in the right eye and 1912 cells/mm2 in the left eye. The OCT scans showed the presence of the disc pit in both eyes with a normal macular thickness and profile in the right eye, and in the left eye an augmented retinal thickness in the nasal macular zone due to retinal oedema and schisis, with an initial detachment of the neuroepithelium in the parapapillary area starting from the optic pit. Conclusions This is the first clinical report of bilateral optic disc pit and keratoconus. Further investigations will be necessary to assess if there is a possible pathogenetic correlation between these two ocular pathologies or if this is an unusual coexistence of separate entities.