Corneal eye transplantation is still the last resort when other corneal treatments have failed and the patient is inevitably blinded. What are the patient eligibility criteria? How does a cornea transplant work?
Corneal eye transplantis the ultimate method of saving a patient's eyesight.The corneais the first optical center of the eye. It consists of the epithelium, the Bowman layer, the essence, Descemet's membrane and the endothelium. Its shape is similar to an ellipse, and its translucency is conditioned by the parallel arrangement of the fibers. It is richly innervated, but has no blood vessels of its own.
Corneal Transplant: Indications
A corneal transplant is the ultimate medical procedure for the following situations:
- when the cornea does not perform the correct optical functions (keratoconus, post-traumatic scars, post-inflammatory endosperms)
- when the disease causes pain in the cornea (bullous corneal degeneration)
- when corneal inflammation does not respond to treatment and there is a risk of complete loss of vision (bacterial, fungal ulceration)
Corneal Transplant: Patient Qualification
There are many different factors that professionals need to consider before deciding whether to transplant a cornea. The standard for qualifying a patient for the procedure is the assessment of the sensation of the cornea, the amount of tears produced, the anatomical position of the eyelids or the location of pathological changes in the cornea.
Corneal Transplant: Important Research
Sometimes a routine eye examination may suffice. At other times, it is necessary to perform tests aimed at the assessment of nerve conduction in the visual system, assessment of the retinal adhesion, and the translucency of the vitreous body. The general condition of the patient is also important - some systemic diseases significantly weaken the healing processes of the graft or constitute a contraindication to the patient's general anesthesia (usually the transplant is performed under such anesthesia).
Corneal Transplant: Transplant Procedure
The condition for performing a transplant is having the material for transplantation - ie a donor cornea. Therefore, it is not possible to plan the date of the procedure, as its determination depends on the availability of the material.Corneal transplants can be divided into: layered (only a part of the cornea is removed and a fragment of the donor's cornea of appropriate thickness is implanted in its place) and full thickness. The corneal transplant surgery itself takes 60-90 minutes. Then the patient wears a bandage for about 3 weeks. About 12 months after the operation, the sutures are removed. Transplant failure is rare.
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