[Pseudophakic bullous keratopathy].

The number of cataract extractions in Switzerland has tripled since 1981. In 1986, a total of 15,500 cataract operations were performed, 95% of which were accompanied by an intraocular lens implantation. In spite of this tremendous increase pseudophakic bullous keratopathy remains a rare indication for keratoplasties: between 1980 and 1986 only 20 grafts were performed at the authors' clinic for irreversible corneal edema following lens implantation. After implantation of posterior chamber lenses, penetrating keratoplasty for corneal decompensation is performed after a significantly shorter period (one year) than with anterior chamber lenses (three years), or in iris-supported lenses (four years). In Switzerland, the incidence of pseudophakic bullous keratopathy among patients with posterior chamber lenses is around 0.1 to 0.3%. A long-term investigation of the endothelial cell density over a period of seven years in 16 patients with a Binkhorst two-loop lens revealed a quite stable and satisfactory cell density of 1600 cells/mm2.