Repeat descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty after descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty graft failure

Purpose: To report a case of secondary Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) for graft failure after primary DMEK. Case summary: A 47-year-old female underwent primary DMEK in her left eye with a diagnosis of Fuchs’ endothelial dystrophy. At 6 weeks later, corneal stromal edema with epithelial and subepithelial bullae was first observed. From that point on, the condition of the cornea and the visual acuity continued to degrade. After 7 months, a second DMEK procedure (i.e., a repeat DMEK) for graft failure was performed successfully without any complications. Since the second procedure, the cornea has been clear, and the best-corrected visual acuity has remained at 0.6 for 8 months. Conclusions: To manage graft failure after primary DMEK, we performed a second DMEK procedure. The removal of the previous graft was easy, and there were no complications. Thus, repeat DMEK may be a feasible procedure.