BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To determine whether ensured graft acceptanc
e through the use of corneal autografts yields a better outcome than w
hen standard homografts are used. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Four patients
who needed a corneal transplant in one eye and who had a blind fellow
eye underwent a corneal autograft in the eye with corneal pathology. R
ESULTS: Three of the four patients had clear grafts on long-term follo
w-up, and no patient experienced immunologic graft rejection. However,
two of the four patients had large amounts of astigmatism postoperati
vely. CONCLUSION: Autografts provided protection against immunologic g
raft rejection. However, because corneal autografts yielded unpredicta
ble amounts of astigmatism, their outcomes are not necessarily better
than those of homografts.