Corneal Transplantation

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About Corneal Transplantation
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• The cornea is the transparent front part of the
  eye which covers iris, pupil and anterior
  chamber. It is a layer in front of the eye which
  helps to focus the light so that you can see
  clearly.
• If the cornea gets damaged, you have to replace
  with the healthy layer of tissues because when
  the light rays pass through the damaged cornea
  can get distorted and change your vision.
• When all or part of the damaged or diseased
  cornea is removed and replaced by a healthy layer
  of tissues is called cornea transplant.

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• Cornea transplant is also known as keratoplasty
  or corneal grafting which can bring back vision,
  lessen pain and improve the look of a damaged
  cornea.
• When the entire is replaced by a healthy cornea,
  it is called penetrating keratoplasty, and when a
  part of the cornea is replaced, it is known as
  lamellar keratoplasty.
• The new cornea comes from the people who donate
  the tissue when they die. The donor of the cornea
  should not have any disease which may affect the
  chance of the survival of the donated tissue or
  the health of the recipient.

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• A donor can be of any age. Cornea transplant is
  recommended when medicine, cross-linking and
  conservative keratoconus surgery cannot heal the
  cornea anymore. Cornea transplant is helpful in
  several eye problems such as
• Cornea scarring because of infection or
  injury
• Corneal ulcers because of infection
• Clouding, thinning or swelling of the cornea
• Problem caused by an eye operation
• inherited eye disease such as Fuchs
  dystrophy

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• When the cornea is damaged, it becomes less
  transparent and its shape change. So it prevents
  the light reaching to retina which causes the
  picture transmitted to the brain to be unclear or
  distorted.
• The type of cornea transplant depends on which
  part of the cornea is damaged and how much is
  damaged. There are three types of cornea
  transplant-

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• 1. Penetrating Keratoplasty it is a full
  thickness transplant.
• 2. Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty- in
  this transplant outer and the middle layer of the
  cornea is replaced or reshaped.
• 3. Endothelial Keratoplasty in this
  transplant the deeper layer of the cornea is
  replaced.

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• Cornea transplant can be done by giving general
  anesthesia or local anesthesia.
• In general anesthesia the person is unconscious,
  and in local anesthesia, the area of surgery is
  numbed.
• The whole process of cornea transplant takes less
  than one hour, and you can leave the hospital on
  the same day or stay overnight, it depends on
  your condition.
• Cornea transplant surgery is like other organ
  transplant surgery. There is a risk of
  complication in cornea transplant such as
  transplanted cornea can be rejected by the body,
  infection and other vision problems can occur.
• According to data around 95 of full thickness
  cornea transplants have low risk and lasts for at
  least ten years.