Corneal Transplant (Penetrating Keratoplasty)
Dr. Gina Jayawant is a fellowship-trained Cornea Specialist, and she has performed hundreds of corneal transplants.
A corneal transplant, also called penetrating keratoplasty, is a surgical operation in which a patient’s diseased cornea is replaced with healthy donated human corneal tissue. This is performed with local anesthesia in an operating room, and the procedure is virtually painless. This is an outpatient surgical procedure, therefore no hospital stay is required. The surgery takes less than an hour to perform. Corneal transplantation is a sight-restoring surgery which helps people with inherited corneal diseases, such as Fuch’s Dystrophy and keratoconus, as well as those with corneal scarring from previous infection or injury.
The visual recovery after corneal transplantation is much more gradual than that after cataract surgery or laser vision correction. It usually takes 3-12 months for full visual recovery, and sometimes even longer. Since the procedure requires the suturing of donor corneal tissue to the patient’s residual corneal tissue, it is common to have large amounts of astigmatism, nearsightedness or farsightedness. These may require the use of a hard contact lens or glasses for optimal vision. However, corneal transplantation is extremely successful for most patients and Dr. Jayawant utilizes special procedures after the initial surgery to optimize the patient’s best vision. Laser vision correction can sometimes be used to reduce the need for glasses or contacts, as well.
Dr. Jayawant also offers the newest form of corneal transplantation, called DEEP POSTERIOR LAMELLAR KERATOPLASTY or DSAEK. This new procedure is only available to those people who have conditions or diseases that affect the back layer of their cornea. This layer is selectively removed and replaced with a donor tissue layer, without the use of sutures. The entire procedure is done through a microscopic incision, much like cataract surgery, and visual recovery is typically much faster than with a traditional corneal transplant.
A corneal transplant, also called penetrating keratoplasty, is a surgical operation in which a patient’s diseased cornea is replaced with healthy donated human corneal tissue. This is performed with local anesthesia in an operating room, and the procedure is virtually painless. This is an outpatient surgical procedure, therefore no hospital stay is required. The surgery takes less than an hour to perform. Corneal transplantation is a sight-restoring surgery which helps people with inherited corneal diseases, such as Fuch’s Dystrophy and keratoconus, as well as those with corneal scarring from previous infection or injury.
The visual recovery after corneal transplantation is much more gradual than that after cataract surgery or laser vision correction. It usually takes 3-12 months for full visual recovery, and sometimes even longer. Since the procedure requires the suturing of donor corneal tissue to the patient’s residual corneal tissue, it is common to have large amounts of astigmatism, nearsightedness or farsightedness. These may require the use of a hard contact lens or glasses for optimal vision. However, corneal transplantation is extremely successful for most patients and Dr. Jayawant utilizes special procedures after the initial surgery to optimize the patient’s best vision. Laser vision correction can sometimes be used to reduce the need for glasses or contacts, as well.
Dr. Jayawant also offers the newest form of corneal transplantation, called DEEP POSTERIOR LAMELLAR KERATOPLASTY or DSAEK. This new procedure is only available to those people who have conditions or diseases that affect the back layer of their cornea. This layer is selectively removed and replaced with a donor tissue layer, without the use of sutures. The entire procedure is done through a microscopic incision, much like cataract surgery, and visual recovery is typically much faster than with a traditional corneal transplant.
Dr. Jayawant has also been certified in the use of ARTIFICIAL (PROSTHETIC) CORNEAL TRANSPLANTS. Also known as ALPHACOR, this procedure is used in the unusual case in which a patient is a poor candidate for the use of human corneal tissue.
Traditional Corneal Transplant Procedure
DSAEK Procedure
