AIM: To observe the transplantation of acellular porcine corneal stroma on the treatment of superficial keratitis by drug-resistant fungal.

METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of 16 cases of fungal keratitis received the transplantation of acellular porcine corneal matrix from June 2015 to March 2016 with a follow-up of 6mo. We analyzed on items as postoperative visual acuity, corneal graft status, postoperative recurrence and postoperative complications.

RESULTS: We observed a healing time of corneal epithelium in 7 to 10d postoperatively generally and the absence of corneal edema in 1mo, while the cornea gradually returned transparent in the 16 cases. Two cases required medication for an epithelial recovery and 3 cases received intervention for decreasing intraocular pressure to a certain level. During the follow-up we observed no cases of cornea degeneration, recurrence of infection or rejection. The vision acuity showed 1.27±0.22, 1.11±0.13, 0.79±0.22 in 1, 3 and 6mo after operation respectively. There was no statistical difference between vision in 1mo and the vision before surgery(P=0.06); while we found a statistical difference when comparing the vision of 3 and 6mo with vision before surgery(P=0.01,0.001). The vision in 6mo increased with a statistic difference to the vision at 1 and 3mo(P<0.001)while no statistic difference was observed between 1 and 3mo(P=0.11).

CONCLUSION: Transplantation of acellular porcine corneal matrix is a safe and efficient treatment for fungal keratitis.