HISTOPATHOLOGICAL STUDY OF PSEUDOPHAKIC BULLOUS KERATOPATHY DEVELOPING AFTER ANTERIOR-CHAMBER OR IRIS-SUPPORTED INTRAOCULAR-LENS IMPLANTATION

Sixty corneal buttons excised from patients who developed pseudophakic bullous keratopathy after anterior chamber or iris-supported intraocu lar lens implantation were studied morphologically and statistically. The mean age of patients was 72.5 +/- 11.6 years. The mean interval be tween intraocular lens implantation and keratoplasty was 5.1 +/- 2.2 y ears. Degeneration and conversion of endothelial cells, abnormal proli feration of posterior collagenous layer, and edema of stroma and epith elium were noticed morphologically. Twenty-nine of the 60 specimens sh owed a surviving endothelial cell area of less than 50%. In these spec imens a significant increase in the thickness of the central stroma wa s recognized compared with the other 31 specimens. The number of kerat ocytes in the 29 specimens had decreased significantly compared with t he control. A linear regression study showed a significant relationshi p between the thickness of the stroma and the number of keratocytes. T he keratocyte density decreased predominantly in the posterior part of the stroma.