outcomes of keratoprosthesis at labbafinejad medical center

purpose: to evaluate the results of keratoprosthesis (kps) at labbafinejad medical center. method: in this case-series 29 eyes of 27 patients who underwent kps between 1995-2002 were evaluated for results and complications. results: patients included 22 male and five female subjects. diagnoses included chemical burn (17 cases), stevens-johnson syndrome (three cases), ocular cicatricial pemphigoid (seven cases), corneal retransplantation (one case) and old corneal scar (one case). preoperative visual acuity was hand motion or light perception (no light perception, hand motion, or light perception in the fellow eyes). prostheses were girard in 20 cases, tibiakeratoprosthesis in 3 cases, and dohlman type 1, dohlman type 2  and pintucci, each in two cases. postoperative visual acuity improved in 21 patients (72.4%) of which 66.7% experienced major complications including bacterial endophthalmitis (42.9%), retinal detachment (28.6%), uncontrolled glaucoma (21.4%), and spontaneous extrusion (7.1%). conclusion: although kps is hopeful in the short term with acceptable initial results, the long-term complication rate is high and the prognosis is poor. so it is better that kps be preceded with safer procedures such as keratolimbal graft especially in young patients.