Corneal transplantation for inflammatory keratopathies in the horse: visual outcome in 206 cases (1993-2007).

This study evaluates the visual outcomes of three different corneal transplantation techniques used to treat severe inflammatory keratopathies in horses based on medical records of 206 horses treated at the University of Florida Veterinary Medical Center between 1993 and 2007. The results show that corneal transplantation is viable and effective, with an overall success rate of 88.5% in maintaining vision.

Study Methods

• Medical records covering a span of 14 years (from 1993 to 2007) were collected from the University of Florida Veterinary Medical Center, resulting in a set of 206 horses undergoing corneal transplantation surgery.
• The data collected included details such as the signalment (a brief description of the animal, including species, breed, sex, and age), types of ocular lesions present, type of transplant surgery performed, length of follow-up, any complications that occurred, and the visual outcomes.
• Three types of corneal transplantation techniques were analysed: Full thickness penetrating keratoplasty (PK), posterior lamellar keratoplasty (PLK), and deep lamellar endothelial keratoplasty (DLEK).

Study Findings

• PK was performed on 86 horses for conditions including melting ulcers, iris prolapse and nonresponsive full thickness stromal abscesses.
• PLK and DLEK, both split thickness penetrating keratoplasties, were utilized for nonresponsive deep stromal abscesses in 54 and 66 eyes, respectively.
• The postoperative complications that were observed the most frequently were graft rejection and varying degrees of graft opacification. Wound dehiscence (wound rupture along a surgical incision) and aqueous humor leakage (leakage of the clear fluid in the front part of the eye between the lens and the cornea) were also common postoperative problems.
• The surgeries resulted in positive visual outcomes for PK, PLK, and DLEK in 77.9%, 98.1%, and 89.4% of the cases, respectively.

Conclusions

• The research concluded that corneal transplantation is a viable surgical technique for treating vascularized and infected corneal disease in horses.
• The overall success rate of the surgeries when it came to maintaining vision was 88.5%, indicating that corneal transplantation can effectively help in preserving vision in horses with severe inflammatory keratopathies.