Long-term Topical teroid Treatment Improve Graft urvival Following Normal-rik Penetrating Keratoplaty

Purpoe To ae the impact of duration of topical teroid treatment on the incidence of endothelial graft rejection after normal-rik penetrating keratoplaty (PK). Deign Propective, intitutional, longitudinal, randomized interventional trial including 406 eye (age 52 ± 19 year; follow-up 42 ± 18 month). Method Potoperative treatment tarted with predniolone acetate 1% eye drop five time daily and wa tapered over the firt ix month. Patient were then randomized into either hort-term (top topical teroid treatment) or long-term treatment (continue teroid once daily for 12 month). Reult During follow-up, 29 eye (7.1%) developed an epiode of endothelial graft rejection. Graft rejection were ignificantly more common in the hort-term (19 of 202; 9.1%) compared with the long-term treatment group (10 of 204: 4.9%; P = .001). Concluion Long-term, low-doe topical teroid treatment protect againt immunologic graft rejection.