Corneal Transplant

The cornea is the transparent, outermost layer of the eye. Being transparent, it allows light into the eye thus, playing an important role in vision. If the cornea is diseased or damaged, it can distort and block light from entering the eye. This can cause significant loss of vision.

A cornea transplant is a surgical procedure where diseased or scarred corneal tissue is replaced with healthy corneal tissue from a donor. This can be done for a number of reasons.

• When the diseased cornea is causing poor vision, a transplant can be carried out to restore vision.
• If pain is caused by a diseased cornea, a cornea transplant may also relieve that symptom.
• Severe corneal disease can also cause perforation of the cornea. In such cases, a corneal transplant can be performed to restore the integrity of the eyeball
• In severe infections of the cornea which is not responding to medical treatment, your ophthalmologist may recommend surgery to remove the infection and prevent further spread.

There are two main types of cornea transplants, full thickness cornea transplant (also known as Penetrating Keratoplasty) and partial thickness cornea transplant (also known as Lamellar Keratoplasty).

Penetrating or full thickness transplants involve removing all layers of the diseased cornea from the patient and replacing it with a healthy donor cornea. In this procedure, sutures are sewn onto the graft to ensure proper placement of the tissue.

Dalam transplantasi Keratoplasti Lamelar, hanya bagian depan atau belakang kornea yang diganti, tergantung pada area yang sakit. Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty (DALK) adalah jenis operasi kornea tebal parsial di mana hanya bagian depan kornea penerima yang perlu diganti dan bukan seluruh kornea. Karena hanya sebagian jaringan kornea penerima yang diangkat, risiko penolakan kecil dan mata rentan terhadap cedera dan infeksi. Keratoplasti Lamelar Endotel dilakukan saat kornea luar penerima sehat; namun, lapisan terdalam (endotelium kornea) sakit atau cedera. Dalam prosedur ini, hanya lapisan endotel penerima yang diangkat dan diganti dengan kornea donor yang sehat. Prosedur ini tidak memerlukan jahitan pada cangkok agar tetap di tempatnya, sehingga memungkinkan cangkok penerima sembuh lebih cepat. Risiko infeksi atau penolakan dan astigmatisme akibat lekosit juga lebih rendah.