Cure Rate Following Rejection in Bilateral Corneal Grafts for Keratoconus

Purpose: to estimate cure rate following graft rejection in bilateral corneal transplantsin iranian patients with keratoconus and to determine risk factors associated withrejection.methods: in this retrospective study, data were compiled from records of patientswho had undergone bilateral penetrating keratoplasty (pk) for keratoconus between1988 and 2007. in order to estimate cure rate in patients with and without cornealvascularization, we adopted the cure rate frailty model with a bayesian approach.results: two hundred and thirty-eight eyes of 119 patients underwent bilateralcorneal transplantion for keratoconus, of which 22.7% experienced graft rejections.cure rates for patients with and without corneal vascularization were 41% and 79%,respectively. cure rate decreased 12% per decade of increase in recipient age. the 1,5, and 10-year survival of corneal transplants without any graft rejection episodeswere 82%, 74%, and 70% respectively.conclusion: the most important risk factor predisposing to rejection in patientsundergoing bilateral pk for keratoconus was corneal vascularization. cure rate forpatients without vascularization was high in this data set, indicating that penetratingkeratoplasty in keratoconus patients without vascularization is an efficient and reliable procedure.