Purpose: To evaluate the most frequent indications for penetrating keratoplasty (PK) in the Ophthalmology service of the Hospital de Clínicas of Porto Alegre. Methods: Retrospective analysis of the charts of 507 patients with indication for penetrating keratoplasty during the period of Jan/1988 to Dec/1997 (454 underwent the surgery during the period). Results: The main indications for PK were as follows: keratoconus (28.6%), bullous keratopathy (20.9%), leucomas (12.6%) and regraft (11.0%). The age average of the corneas was 44 years and the mean preservation time was 6,6 days. Conclusions: There was agreement between our study and the literature despite some differences between the main indications.
Corneal transplantation; Tissue donors; Keratoplasty; Organ preservation; Retrospective studies
