Repair of descemet membrane detachments with the assistance of anterior segment optical coherence tomography.

Extensive Descemet membrane detachment (DMD) is a rare complication of intraocular surgery that can lead to corneal decompensation. Although DMD may resolve spontaneously, surgical repair frequently is required. The diagnosis may be difficult because corneal edema can obscure visualization of the Descemet membrane (DM). Ultrasonographic biomicroscopy (UBM) has been the standard for imaging DMD in patients with corneal opacity. Anterior segment optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a new technique for imaging anterior segment anatomy to evaluate narrow angles, flaps created with laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis, and corneas after DM-stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty. We report 2 cases of extensive DMD in which both UBM (model P45 ultrasonographic biomicroscope; Paradigm Medical, Inc, Salt Lake City, Utah; VuMax ultrasonographic biomicroscope; Sonomed, Inc, Lake Success, New York) and anterior segment OCT (Visante optical coherence tomographer; Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc, Dublin, California) were used to image the DMD before surgical repair.