Suture Erosion After Penetrating Keratoplasty

Because suture erosion after keratoplasty is an important risk factor for inflammation, infection, vascularization, and graft rejection, we aimed to delineate patient characteristics associated with these erosions. One hundred eyes of 97 consecutive patients who presented to our service with 10-0 nylon suture erosion after keratoplasty were selected for study. Patient age, preoperative diagnosis, duration from surgery, location and type of eroded suture, vascularity of recipient bed, contact lens or topical steroid use, and presence of infiltrate at the erosion site and subsequent culture results were tabulated. The average duration from keratoplasty to presentation was 33 (range 1-144) months. The locations of the eroded sutures were superior in 53%, nasal in 17%, temporal in 16%, and inferior in 14% of eyes (p