SUMMARY
A retrospective study was done in 10 patients with bacterial ulcers that underwent therapeutic penetrating keratoplasty. They were considered as failures of medical treatment. Visual improvement, complications, etiologic agent and its therapeutic value were discussed.
The keratoplasty was indicated in all cases of descemetocele with impending or present perforation. Pseudomonas sp was the most frequent isolated agent that represented 3 of the 10 cases. The visual acuity before surgery was worse than finger counting (FC) in all patients and it did not improve after the keratoplasty in most of the cases, except for one who reached the visual acuity of 20/25. The most frequent complications were the endothelial rejection (50%) and the posterior synechea (50%). One patient progressed to ocular atrophy.
Key words:
Keratoplasty; therapeutic corneal transplant; bacterial corneal ulcer