Corneal Transplant Surgery

Conventional Corneal Transplant as well as Lamellar Graft and Endothelial Transplants are routinely being performed. Cornea is a very clear outer lens at the front side of the eye. Corneal transplant is a surgery intended for replacing cornea with tissue taken from a donor. It is a very commonly done transplant.

Why corneal transplant is suggested?

A corneal transplant is suggested for people with vision issues caused due to thinning of cornea, very frequently due to keratoconus. A transplant can be considered if less invasive treatments are not successful. Corneal transplant is also performed to treat scarring of cornea out of severe injuries or infections. The corneal transplant procedure is also carried out when vision loss is caused due to the cloudiness of cornea, very often because of Fuchs’ dystrophy.

How corneal transplant is done

A corneal transplant deals with replacing a scarred or diseased cornea with new one. When cornea turns cloudy, it is not possible for light to penetrate through eye to reach out to light sensitive retina. Blindness or poor vision may result. In the surgery of corneal transplant, the surgeon eliminates the central part of the cloudy cornea and places a clean cornea, which is typically donated through eye bank. A trephine, which is an instrument in the form of cookie butter, is utilized to eradicate the cloudy cornea. Surgeon then places new cornea at the opening and also sews it using a very fine thread. This thread stays in for long period which can be several months or even extend to year till eye is completely healed. Followed by the surgery, eye drops are employed to assist promoting the healing will be necessary for more months.

Safety

The corneal transplantations has greatly recovered the vision of many people, who a generation before would have been permanently blinded due to corneal injury, inherited corneal disease or infection or degeneration.

Complications

The body may refuse the transplanted tissue. This happens in around one of three patients in the first five years. These rejections can be controlled sometimes using steroid eye drops. The other complications for corneal transplant include