A healthy cornea is important for clear vision because this outer surface of your eye controls how light enters the eye. When there is damage to the cornea, your vision will suffer. Sometimes the damage is so severe that a corneal transplant becomes necessary. This process works by removing all or part of the cornea and replacing it with healthy donor tissue from an eye bank.
Types of Corneal Transplant
At Atlanta Vision Cataract and Laser Center, our specialists perform corneal transplants in Atlanta. Depending on the severity of your problem, we may recommend a:
- Full thickness corneal transplant (penetrating keratoplasty or PK) to replace the entire cornea for serious injuries or damage.
- Partial thickness corneal transplant (Descement’s Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty or DSAEK) which replaces only the damaged or diseased section of the cornea, keeping the undamaged tissues intact.
Symptoms of Corneal Damage
The cornea can become damaged or diseased due to many different reasons:
- Thinning, causing a cone-shaped cornea (keratoconus)
- Inflammation (keratitis)
- Cell deterioration (Fuchs’ dystrophy)
- Injuries
- Allergies
- Infection
- Dry eye
- Protein deposits (lattice dystrophy)
- Shingles
- Ocular herpes
- Pinkish growth (pterygium)
- Inward-facing eyelashes causing scarring (trichiasis)
Risks of Corneal Transplant
Our doctors will fully explain the risks of corneal transplants such as rejection of the new tissue, infection, glaucoma, cataracts and corneal swelling. If you or a loved one has sustained corneal damage, contact us to learn more about your options.