Abstract

Purpose: To determine the functional success of SC-KLAL in children below 2 years of age.
Methods: This retrospective case series reviewed 41 eyes of 28 children with Sclerocornea and poor palisade who underwent SC-KLAL from 2014-2021.
Results: The median age at surgery was 0.45 years (IQR, 0.28 to 0.68 years). Male: Female ratio was 10:18, with 68% bilateral cases. All eyes of Sclerocornea with suboptimal palisade underwent SC-KLAL. The mean donor age was 28.4 ± 1.7 years, and the death-to-preservation time was 4.6 ± 0.5 hours. The mean graft size was 6.30 ± 0.13mm. Topical Tacrolimus ointment was used in addition to the standard post-operative regimen. Over a 29-month follow-up, 80.64% of grafts remained clear, while 19.35% failed. Allograft rejection (p=0.04; hazard ratio: 3.09 ± 1.67) was a significant risk factor for SC-KLAL failure. A final visual acuity of 20/120 or better was achieved in 43.75% of cases, with a mean astigmatism of 3.21D Cyl (SD = 1.86).