Corneal Transplant
Corneal transplant also known as Penetrating Keratoplasty and
Corneal Graft is the replacement of the part of the eye called the
Cornea with graft derived from a human donor.
Corneal Transplant is performed routinely by Dr. Ilan Cohen in his
New York and New Jersey offices. The Cornea is the clear part in front
of the eye responsible for transmission of light into the eye. Various
disease processes can affect the health of the Cornea and lead to a
reduction in vision. These include: Keratoconus, Scarred Cornea,
Corneal edema (swelling of the Cornea) or a Cornea infection often
caused by contact lens wearing.
The Challenge:
The human Cornea is responsible not only for the transmission of
light into the eye, but is also a lens that focuses the light rays and
has to posses a precise geometric configuration for a good vision. In
order to understand how important and how delicate this configuration
is; it is enough to mention that operations like LASIK
can improve a patient’s vision significantly by making slight
modifications to the shape of the Cornea. These modifications are
usually on the order of the microns (1/1000th of a millimeter). The
minutest changes to the corneal surface can result in major shift in
vision, for the good or the bad.
The outcome of a corneal transplant depends very much on how closely
the donor tissue is matched to the recipient bed in shape and how well
it is sutured together. It is not surprising therefore, that in the
circle of corneal surgeons; surgical skill is synonymous with skill in
corneal transplantation. Corneal transplantation requires skill and
dexterity that is far beyond what is required in other types of eye
surgery.
Laser Corneal Transplant:
In traditional corneal transplant, the surgeon uses a blade to cut
the donor cornea and to prepare the host bed for transplantation. This
is often the source of much of the mismatch and the reduction in
post-operative vision. However, due to recent innovation Dr. Ilan Cohen
has been able to adopt the same laser used for cutting the flap in
LASIK, to cut the donor cornea and also to prepare the host bed for
transplantation. This leads to some important improvements:
- Laser accuracy Increases physical compatibility between the donor and the recipient
- Laser allows the formation of shapes (donor and recipient) that can
naturally fit into each other to prevent leakage from the eye
post-operatively. This is not possible with manual blades.
Complications of corneal transplant:
The most common complication of a corneal transplant is a very high
and irregular corneal astigmatism which can significantly limit the
vision with and without glasses. Other complications include:
post-operative leakage, rejection, graft failure and infection. Using
the latest surgical techniques in the talented hands of Dr. Ilan Cohen
can reduce the chance of most of these unpleasant outcomes if a corneal
transplant becomes the final choice.
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