Corneal Transplant

Corneal transplant or corneal grafting or keratoplasty, is a surgical procedure which involves the substitution of a damaged or diseased cornea to reinstate and bring back full vision. The success rates of corneal transplant procedures are significantly high. Affordable and cost effective corneal transplants are available at a number of medical tourism destinations abroad.

PREPARING FOR A CORNEAL TRANSPLANT
- The ophthalmologist examines the eye in detail, and discusses the various surgical options available to the patient.
- The corneal replacement surgery can take place only once a donor is found.
- Routine laboratory tests, blood tests, and X-rays are performed.
RECOVERY AFTER A CORNEAL TRANSPLANT
Usually, vision improves after several months, post the keratoplasty operation. Occasionally, it could even take more than a year to heal completely. What’s more, recovery after a corneal transplantation surgery greatly depends on the body’s healing capacity, and whether the rest of the eye was healthy, prior to the operation.
SUCCESS RATES OF CORNEAL TRANSPLANTS
The Cornea Transplant surgery is one of the most efficient and successful organ transplant surgeries. The success depends greatly up on the extent and nature of damage / injury to the eye. The success rate of the procedure could be as high as 95 %.
BENEFITS OF HAVING A CORNEAL TRANSPLANT
- A cornea transplant restores a person’s vision.
- It reduces pain that is caused by disease or trauma
INDICATIONS FOR CORNEAL TRANSPLANTATION
- To improve vision by replacing the clouded or opaque cornea by a healthy corneal tissue. The commonest indications for a corneal transplant, (also, called corneal grafting), are – pseudophakic bullous keratopathy, keratoconus, corneal degeneration, keratitis, and trauma.
- To protect the corneal structure and integrity or to restructure the anatomy of the eye, e.g. when a corneal perforation occurs.
- To eliminate an inflamed corneal tissue that is insensitive to anti-biotic treatment.
- To enhance the appearance of a patient who has a corneal scar
VISION CORRECTION AFTER SURGERY

Your vision may initially be worse than before your surgery as your eye adjusts to the new cornea. It may take several months for your vision to improve.

Once the outer layer of your cornea has healed — several weeks to several months after surgery — your eye doctor will work to make adjustments that can improve your vision, such as:

Correcting unevenness in your cornea (astigmatism). The stitches that hold the donor cornea in place on your eye may cause dips and bumps in your cornea, making your vision blurry in spots. Your doctor may correct some of this by releasing some stitches and tightening others.

Correcting vision problems. Refractive errors, such as nearsightedness and farsightedness, can be corrected with glasses, contact lenses or, in some cases, laser eye surgery
OVERVIEW

A cornea transplant (keratoplasty) is a surgical procedure to replace part of your cornea with corneal tissue from a donor. Your cornea is the transparent, dome-shaped surface of your eye that accounts for a large part of your eye's focusing power.

A cornea transplant can restore vision, reduce pain and improve the appearance of a damaged or diseased cornea.

Most cornea transplant procedures are successful. But cornea transplant carries a small risk of complications, such as rejection of the donor cornea.
CORNEA TRANSPLANT INDIA

India is one of the frequently visited medical tourism destinations. Its healthcare infrastructure has improved dramatically and more and more hospitals have undergone international accreditations like NABH, JCI, etc. corneal transplantation in India comes at a fraction of cost in the United States or elsewhere, which has succeeded in attracting several medical tourists to India. Furthermore, India has a large volume of English speaking population, making communication easy and effective for the foreign visitors. Well experienced and skilled ophthalmologists and a qualified medical team carry out the corneal replacement procedure.
POSSIBLE COMPLICATIONS OR RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH A CORNEAL TRANSPLANT
As is the case with most other surgical procedures, the corneal transplant procedure also entails a few risks:
- Eye infection
- Increased pressure within the eye
- Bleeding
- A wound leak and swelling
- Poor or delayed wound healing
- Glaucoma
- A rejection of the transplanted cornea, which would involve another surgical process
- There is a possibility of loss of vision in that particular eye.
- A loss of the entire eye
- Death, due to severe reaction to the anesthesia.
ALTERNATIVES TO A CORNEAL TRANSPLANT

Contact lenses: In the preliminary stages, contact lenses often improve vision. Contact lenses improve visual acuity of a majority of keratoconus patients. Patients need to use hard contact lenses. Only about 10 to 20% of the patients would require a corneal substitution during their life times due to deterioration of the condition.

Lamellar Keratoplasty: This technique leaves the patient’s own Descemet membrane and endothelium, and replaces about 95% of the cornea. This technique is advantageous because there is virtually no rejection of the donated cornea, post-operatively. The only disadvantage is that the vision is not as clear, as it would be with a corneal transplantation procedure.

High speed lasers: Lancets are slowly being replaced by high speed lasers so that the surgical incisions are more accurate. A high speed laser technique helps the cornea to heal a lot more rapidly and the sutures can be removed sooner. Recovery, healing, and visual outcomes are greatly augmented by this procedure.
PRECAUTIONS TO BE TAKEN AFTER A CORNEAL TRANSPLANT PROCEDURE
- You ought to ensure that you take the prescribed oral anti-biotics and the eye drops regularly to check infections, swelling and pain.
- Steroidal drops have to be taken for a few months to prevent a rejection of the cornea.
- A metal eye shield is placed over the eye for protection and must be kept for the first few days after the surgery.
- You have to be extra cautious and protect the eye from injury at all times.
- Safety glasses during exercise are a must.
- Stay away from rigorous exercises and lifting heavy weights. They delay healing and recovery, and put the corneal replacement at risk.
- Stitches are removed after 3 to 17 months after the corneal grafting procedure.
- Regular check ups and examinations by the ophthalmologist are of absolute importance.
THE AVAILABILITY OF A DONOR CORNEA FOR CORNEAL TRANSPLANT

Corneas for transplant are procured from an eye bank, where individuals donate their eyes for the assistance of others, after their death. A donor cornea can be used up to maximum of 4 days after the death of the donor, depending on the mode of preservation. Factors such as gender, color of the iris, the previous vision of the donor have no bearing on the result of the surgery.

In certain cases, where there have been graft failures or the risk for having a cornea transplant / keratoplasty is high, then, synthetic corneas can replace donor corneas successfully.
CORNEAL TRANSPLANT: THE PROCEDURE
- The procedure for a corneal eye transplant is carried out under a general anesthesia or a local anesthesia and a sedative.
- Drapes are placed around the eye.
- An eyelid speculum is used to keep the eye open.
- The eye is lubricated so as to ward off drying.
- Only the innermost portion of the cornea is involved in the transplantation process. A suitable portion of the patient’s cornea is excised, using a trephine, and it is then replaced with a same sized disc from the donor cornea, and sutured in to place.
- Anti-biotic eye drops are placed in the eye and the eye is covered up.
- The patient can go home after this and must come back the next day for the first follow up.

Treatments

CORNEAL TRANSPLANT
The procedure for a corneal eye transplant is carried out under a general anesthesia or a local anesthesia and a sedative. Drapes are placed around the eye. An eyelid speculum is used to keep the eye open. The eye is lubricated so as to ward off drying. Only the innermost portion of the cornea is involved in the transplantation process. A suitable portion of the patient’s cornea is excised, using a trephine, and it is then replaced with a same sized disc from the donor cornea, and sutured in to place. Anti-biotic eye drops are placed in the eye and the eye is covered up. The patient can go home after this and must come back the next day for the first follow up. View

CORNEAL TRANSPLANT

The procedure for a corneal eye transplant is carried out under a general anesthesia or a local anesthesia and a sedative.

Drapes are placed around the eye.

An eyelid speculum is used to keep the eye open.

The eye is lubricated so as to ward off drying.

Only the innermost portion of the cornea is involved in the transplantation process. A suitable portion of the patient’s cornea is excised, using a trephine, and it is then replaced with a same sized disc from the donor cornea, and sutured in to place.

Anti-biotic eye drops are placed in the eye and the eye is covered up.

The patient can go home after this and must come back the next day for the first follow up.

View