Cornea Transplant
What is Cornea?
The cornea is the clear layer on the front of your eye that helps focus light so you can see clearly. If it gets damaged, you might need to have it replaced.
The surgeon will remove all or part of your cornea and replace it with a healthy layer of tissue. The new cornea comes from people who chose to donate this tissue when they died.
A cornea transplant, also called keratoplasty, can bring back vision, lessen pain, and possible improve the appearance of your cornea if it is white and scarred.
Who Needs One?
The light rays that pass through a damaged cornea can get distorted and change your vision.
A corneal transplant corrects several eye problems, including:
• Cornea scarring because of an injury or an infection
• Corneal ulcers or “sores” from an infection
• A medical condition that makes your cornea bulge out (keratoconus)
• Thinning, clouding, or swelling of the cornea
• Inherited eye diseases, such as Fuchs’ dystrophy and others
• Problems caused by an earlier eye operation
Full Thickness Corneal Transplant
If the doctor does a penetrating keratoplasty (PK), all the layers of your cornea get replaced. The surgeon sews the new cornea onto your eye with stitches thinner than hair.
You might need this procedure if you have a severe cornea injury or bad bulging and scarring.
It has the longest healing time.
Partial Thickness Corneal Transplant
During deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK), the surgeon injects air to lift off and separate the thin outside and thick middle layers of your cornea, then removes and replaces only those.People with keratoconus or a corneal scar that hasn’t affected the inner layers may have this done.
The healing time with this procedure is shorter than a full thickness transplant. Because your eye itself isn’t opened up, it’s unlikely the lens and iris could be damaged, and there’s less chance of an infection inside your eye.
Endothelial Keratoplasty
About half of the people who need cornea transplants each year have a problem with the innermost layer of the cornea, the endothelium.
Results
Most people who have a cornea transplant get at least part of their vision restored, but each situation is different. It could take a few weeks and up to a year for your vision to improve fully. Your eyesight might get a little worse before it gets better.
Your glasses or contact lens prescription may need to be adjusted to include astigmatism correction because the transplanted tissue won’t be perfectly round.
After the first year, you should see your eye doctor once or twice every year. The donated tissue usually lasts a lifetime