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. 2025 Jan 22;25(1):39.
doi: 10.1186/s12886-024-03826-7.

Long-term outcomes of corneal transplantation: a review of 8,378 patients

Mohammad Nasser Hashemian  1 , Mohammad Javad Zia  1 , Masoud Khorrami-Nejad  2   3 , Qaysser Sattar Abed  2 , Hesam Hashemian  4
Affiliations

Long-term outcomes of corneal transplantation: a review of 8,378 patients

Mohammad Nasser Hashemian et al. BMC Ophthalmol. .

Abstract

Purpose: To analyze the outcomes of corneal transplantation procedures over a 13-year period at Farabi Eye Hospital, Tehran, Iran, to identify trends and determinants influencing the frequency and success of primary and re-transplantations.

Methods: Utilizing a comprehensive dataset from the hospital's Hospital Information System, the study reviewed the records of 8,378 patients who underwent corneal transplants between 2009 and 2022. This analysis included demographic information, surgical details, and follow-up data. Statistical methods were applied to assess the impact of variables such as age, gender, surgeon experience, and surgical techniques on the likelihood of re-transplantation.

Results: Of the 8,378 transplants, 7,660 (91.4%) were primary procedures while 718 (8.6%) involved re-transplantation. The most common primary transplant was penetrating keratoplasty (PKP, 50.3%), followed by Descemet's stripping endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK, 29.3%), and deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK, 18.5%). Analysis revealed no significant association between re-transplantation rates and patient gender or nationality. Older recipient age correlates with higher re-transplantation rates, likely due to reduced regenerative capacity and increased comorbidities in older patients. Pre-transplant comorbidities (e.g., keratoconus, ulcers), concurrent surgeries (e.g., vitrectomy), and prior procedures (e.g., glaucoma surgeries, IOL implantation) significantly increase re-transplantation risk, likely due to additional ocular stress and inflammation.

Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of patient age, surgeon experience, and the choice of surgical technique in the success rates of corneal transplants. These factors are crucial for optimizing patient outcomes and minimizing the necessity for re-transplantations.

Keywords: Corneal transplantation; Penetrating keratoplasty (PKP); Re-transplantation rates; Retrospective analysis; Surgical outcomes.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The ethical committee of Tehran university of medical sciences approved the protocol of this study and this study adhered to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki and HIPAA. As it was a retrospective study, informed consent was waived by the ethical committee of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Percent frequency of transplants by 6 categories of primary transplant causes in the last 13 years at Farabi Eye Hospital. DALK: Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty; DSAEK: Descemet’s Stripping Endothelial Automated Keratoplasty; KLAL: Keratolimbal allograft; PKP: penetrating keratoplasty
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