Transpositional Autokeratoplasty in a Patient with Unilateral Choroidal Melanoma and Contralateral Exposure Keratopathy.

Penetrating keratoplasty was required to improve corneal clarity in the left eye, which had suffered chronic exposure keratopathy following a cerebellopontine angle tumor with facial nerve involvement. The right eye had a large choroidal melanoma, which had failed brachytherapy, but the cornea was transparent and healthy. The right eye corneal button was sutured to the left eye host and a donor corneal button was sutured to the right eye rim. The right eye was subsequently enucleated. Two years later, the patient had 6/12 visual acuity with a clear graft and no tumor seeding in the host eye. Although limited opportunities arise to employ transpositional autokeratoplasty, where appropriate, it offers an alternative to conventional allokeratoplasty with a lower risk of immune rejection.

Duke Scholars

Author Prithvi Mruthyunjaya Ophthalmology, Vitreoretinal Diseases & Surgery