De novo ocular hypertension after Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty: comparative 3-year incidence, risk factors, and outcomes

Errol W Chan,1 Tina T Wong,2,3 Hla M Htoon,3 Ching L Ho,2 Donald T Tan,1,2,3 Jodhbir S Mehta2,3,4 1Department of Ophthalmology, National University Health System, Singapore; 2Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore; 3Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore; 4Department of Clinical Sciences, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore Objective: To compare the 3-year incidence of de novo ocular hypertension (OHT) after Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) and penetrating keratoplasty (PK). For DSAEK, to evaluate predictors for OHT and 2-year outcomes after OHT development. Methods: This was a review of the prospective Singapore Corneal Transplant Study at a single tertiary referral center. Consecutive DSAEKs and PKs for Fuchs’ endothelial dystrophy (FED) and pseudophakic bullous keratopathy (PBK) in eyes without pre-existing glaucoma were analyzed. OHT incidence after DSAEK and PK were compared using Kaplan–Meier survival analysis, and OHT risk factors identified using Cox proportional regression. OHT was defined: intraocular pressure (IOP) ≥ 24 mmHg or ≥ 10 mmHg from baseline. Secondary outcomes 2 years after OHT development in DSAEK were rates of glaucoma medical therapy failure, IOP success, graft failure and rejection, and best-spectacle corrected visual acuity (BSCVA). Results: There were 108 (96.4%) DSAEKs and 216 (96%) PKs. The 1-, 2- and 3-year de novo OHT incidence was not significantly different between DSAEK (36.1%, 47.2%, 47.2%, respectively) and PK (35.7%, 44.9%, 45.8%, respectively; P = 0.914). OHT incidence did not differ in subgroup analyses of multiple clinical variables (P > 0.1). OHT predictors after DSAEK were: fellow eye glaucoma (hazard ratio [HR] 3.20, P = 0.004), age