Corneal blindness,keratoplasty and visual out come

Objectives: to treat corneal blindness with corneal transplants and to find out its visual outcomes and complications. material and methods: this is a prospective study with one year follow up. the study was conducted in eye b unit of khyber teaching hospital,peshawar from 2004 to 2008. data extracted includes age,gender,type of corneal pathology,initial and final visual acuities and complications. results: eighty eyes of 80 patients suffering from corneal blindness were operated with corneal transplant. main indication were dense corneal opacity in 25 (31.20%) eyes,bullous keratopathy in 16 (20%) eyes,corneal thinning and perforation in 13 (16.25%) eyes,corneal degeneration in 10 (12.5%) eyes,keratoconus in 9 (11.25%) previous graft failure in 05 (6.25%) eyes and corneal dystrophy in 02 (2.5%) eyes. pre operative visual acuity was ranging from perception of light to counting fingers one meter. final visual acuity was improved in 76% cases. main complications were high refractive error in 11 (13.7%) eyes,glaucoma in 30 (37.5%) eyes,graft failure in 13 (16.25%) eyes and recurrence of primary disease in 2 (2.5%) eyes. most of complications were resolved at the end of follow up. conclusion: excellent success with corneal transplant is possible to treat corneal blindness,if donor corneas are available.