SUMMARY
We retrospectively studied the clinical and pathological diagnoses of 49 penetrating keratoplasties, performed during the period of April 1988 to March 1989, at two diferent institutions: Hospital Universitário Pedro Ernesto - Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro and Hospital Universitário Antônio Pedro - Universidade Federal Fluminense.
The leading indications, in order of decreasing frequency, were: aphakic bullous keratopathy (22,45%), Fuchs endotelial distrophy (16,33%), keratoconus (14,28%), intersticial keratitis (10,20%) and regrafts (10,20%).