Outcomes of Corneal Transplantation for Herpetic Keratitis: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is one of the most common etiologic agents of corneal disease and a significant cause of corneal blindness worldwide. Although most cases can be successfully managed with medical therapy, HSV keratitis associated with visually significant stromal scarring often requires corneal transplantation for visual rehabilitation. While penetrating keratoplasty (PK) represented the traditional keratoplasty technique, the past few decades have seen a shift towards lamellar keratoplasty procedures, including deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty and mushroom keratoplasty. This paper describes the current surgical techniques and perioperative antiviral prophylaxis regimen for herpetic keratitis and reviews their postoperative clinical outcomes.

Keywords

• cornea
• herpes simplex virus (HSV)
• herpetic keratitis
• penetrating keratoplasty (PK)
• deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK)
• mushroom keratoplasty (MK)