Infectious Keratitis After Astigmatic Keratotomy in Penetrating Keratoplasty

PURPOSE: To present 3 cases in 2 patients of infectious keratitis of the astigmatic keratotomy (AK) site in patients who had previous penetrating keratoplasty. METHODS: History, clinical examination, chart review, cultures, and laboratory results were obtained from 2 patients with infectious keratitis within the donor stroma of their graft after an AK was performed. RESULTS: One patient had an early infiltrate of the AK site that was culture negative. This cleared with fortified antibiotics, and the patient had a final visual acuity of 20/30-2. The second patient developed 2 late infections, the first with coagulase negative Staphylococcus and the second infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Both of these infections cleared with fortified antibiotics, and the final visual acuity was 20/25. Neither patient developed a rejection episode from the infections, and both grafts survived. CONCLUSIONS: We report a series of 3 cases of infectious keratitis in 2 patients after AKs in corneal grafts. This, to the best of our knowledge, has not been previously reported. Patients who suffer infectious keratitis after AK in corneal grafts may have good visual outcomes if managed with appropriate antibiotic regimens and closely followed.