Corneal transplantation is a surgical procedure where a damaged or opaque cornea or part of it is replaced by the cornea of a donor.
Indications for corneal transplantation:
Optical:
To improve visual acuity by replacing the opaque host tissue by clear healthy donor tissue. The most common indication in this category is the bullous keratopathy, followed by keratoconus, corneal dystrophies and corneal scars.
Tectonic/reconstructive:
To preserve corneal anatomy, stability and integrity, in patients with stromal thinning (descemetocele) or cornea perforation.
Therapeutic:
To remove inflamed corneal tissue unresponsive to medical treatment extremely threatening for the globe
Cosmetic:
To improve the appearance of patients with corneal scars presenting a whitish or opaque hue to the cornea.
Several techniques are available, which selectively replace diseased layers of the cornea while leaving healthy layers in place.
Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty:
In this procedure only the anterior layers of the central cornea are removed and replaced with donor tissue. This technique is used in cases of anterior corneal opacifications, scars, and ectatic diseases such as keratoconus.
Endothelial Keratoplasty:
Replaces the patient’s endothelium with a transplanted disc of posterior stroma/Descemets/endothelium (DSAEK) or Descemets/endothelium (DMEK).