Cornea Transplants
Tuesday, September 21st, 2010Today was a day for Cornea Transplants!
Ok, so I had five patients that I ahd to talk today about cornea transplants. A cornea transplant, which replaces damaged tissue on the eye’s clear surface, also is referred to as a corneal transplant, keratoplasty, penetrating keratoplasty (PK) or corneal graft.
A cornea transplant replaces central corneal tissue, damaged due to disease or injury, with healthy corneal tissue donated from an eye bank. An unhealthy cornea affects your vision by scattering light and causing blurred or distorted vision. In some cases, a cornea can be so damaged or scarred that a transplant is necessary to restore your functional vision.
Cornea transplants are performed routinely. In fact, of all tissue transplants, the most successful is a corneal transplant. The National Keratoconus Foundation estimates that more than 40,000 cornea transplants are performed in the United States each year.
A new version of corneal transplant, known as Descemet’s Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty (DSEK), also has been introduced as a new surgical method that uses only a very thin portion of the cornea for transplant. In certain cases, this type of procedure may be preferred because it has advantages such as being less likely to create an irregular corneal surface (astigmatism) as a side effect.
Now, we may suggest a corneal transplant for reasons varying from diseases to eye injuries, which can include scarring from infections, such as eye herpes or fungal keratitis, eye diseases such as keratoconus, hereditary factors or corneal failure from previous surgeries and complications from LASIK.Typically, corneal transplant surgery is performed on an outpatient basis, meaning that you will not need hospitalization. Local or general anesthesia is used, depending on your health, age, and whether or not you prefer to be asleep during the procedure. With local anesthesia, an injection into the skin around your eye is used to relax muscles that control blinking and movement, and eye drops are used to numb the eye itself.
After the anesthesia has taken effect, the eyelids are held open while the eye surgeon inspects and measures the affected corneal area in order to determine the size of the transplantation. A round, button-shaped section of tissue is then removed from your diseased or injured cornea. A nearly identical-shaped button from the donor tissue is then sutured into place. Finally, the surgeon will place a plastic shield over your eye to protect it from being inadvertently rubbed or bumped. The surgery takes one hour, maybe less.
The total recovery time for a corneal transplant may be up to a year. Initially, your vision will be blurry and the site of your corneal transplant may be swollen and slightly thicker than the rest of your cornea. As your vision is restored, you will gradually be able to return to your normal daily activities.
For the first several weeks, heavy exercise and lifting are prohibited. However, people are able to return to work three to seven days after surgery, depending on your job. Steroid (no, they wont bulk you up) eye drops will be prescribed for several months to help your body accept the new corneal graft.
Your vision will continue to improve up to one year following surgery. But you will need glasses or contact lenses after surgery, because the curve of the corneal transplant cannot match exactly the curve of your natural cornea. After healing is complete and stitches are removed, it is possible to undergo laser vision correction (LASIK or PRK) to improve your vision and decrease your dependence on glasses or contact lenses.