Is there evidence for a surgeon learning curve for endothelial keratoplasty in Australia?

Importance Expected outcomes from endokeratoplasty may vary with surgeon experience. Background It was explored whether a surgeon learning curve exists for Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasties (manual or automated) performed in Australia. Design This is a prospective cohort study, with various clinical settings. Participants There were 2139 recipients of 2615 endothelial grafts, registered by 85 surgeons between January 2006 and December 2013. Methods Kaplan–Meier survival analyses and Cox proportional hazards regression were used to examine longitudinal graft survival. Manual and automated Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasties were analysed together. Pearson chi‐squared analyses were performed to examine differences amongst groups. Continuity correction was used for 2 × 2 tests, and statistical significance was set at P