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Corneal Transplantation
 Sometimes vision can be blurred because the cornea becomes cloudy. The cornea is like the lens on a camera, when it becomes damaged the only way to get clear pictures is by replacing the lens.
There are many things that can damage the cornea including:
- Injury after Intraocular surgery such as Cataract Removal
- Scarring from previous infections, trauma or burns
- Corneal conditions such as Keratoconus or Corneal Dystrophies
When the cornea becomes damaged enough, then images are blurred. Once it becomes too bad for glasses to correct then a corneal transplant is performed.
The procedure is usually performed under general anesthesia. Patients are asleep for about 45 minutes to an hour until the procedure is finished. The cornea is replaced by donor tissue just like with a heart or kidney transplant. Once a cornea becomes available the transplant is performed as follows: |
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The damaged cornea is cut with a Corneal Trephine |
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The damaged cornea is then removed |
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The donor cornea is then cut to match the recipient bed |
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The donor cornea is then skillfully sutured in place |
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After a transplant is performed, patients are placed on Antibiotic and Steroid drops to prevent infections and graft rejection. Vision is typically blurry immediately post-op but clears with time. Because astigmatism results from transplantation, best vision is usually attained months after the cornea has healed and it usually is achieved with a contact lens.
Most people ask if and when we remove the stitches. The answer is that we do in fact remove the stitches but it generally doesn't happen until after the first year when we know the cornea has healed completely.
Corneal transplantation has an 80-90% success rate and is an absolute God send for patients who need it.
Like most organs, there is a waiting list for transplant tissue. We generally have a 2 week or less wait time on corneal tissue.
Call us at 318-212-3937 to schedule your appointment today! |
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