Outcomes of Repeat Boston Type 1 Keratoprosthesis Implantation

Abstract

Purpose: To describe the outcomes and prognostic characteristics of patients who had a repeat Boston type 1 keratoprosthesis (KPro) implantation.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Methods: setting: Data regarding preoperative clinical and demographic characteristics and postoperative course during initial and repeat KPro placement were collected at multiple centers across the country.

Patients: Forty-eight eyes underwent explantation of KPro owing to complications between September 2003 and August 2014 at 5 participating tertiary eye care centers in the United States. Of those, 36 eyes that received a subsequent replacement device were included.

Main outcome measures: Visual acuity (VA) outcomes and postoperative complications.

Results: Ocular surface disease was significantly more common in eyes that required a device explantation, compared to those that retained the device (P < .001). Sixty-seven percent of eyes (24/36) achieved VA ≥ 20/200 vision after the repeat KPro. The probability of these 24 eyes maintaining VA ≥ 20/200 after the repeat KPro was 87% at 1 year and 75% at 2 years. Predictors of the ability to maintain vision ≥ 20/200 following surgery were a better last-recorded vision before explantation (P = .0002) and better vision immediately after repeat KPro (P < .001).

Conclusion: Ocular surface disease and its complications were associated with more frequent device removal. In these patients, repeat KPro resulted in restoration of vision. A reasonable visual acuity prior to device removal was associated with favorable long-term postoperative visual acuity and retention.