A cornea transplant may be required for a Corneal Condition which leads to pain or loss of vision. Cornea transplant has a high success rate and is one of the most successful transplants performed. Most cornea transplants are outpatient procedures in which the patient goes home the same day of the surgery. Most patients are comfortable after a cornea transplant but some patients may have mild irritation. Patients with a cornea transplant are at risk for rejection. Corneal rejection occurs when the body reacts against the transplanted cornea, which can lead to redness, light sensitivity, pain, or decreased vision. Corneal rejection is treatable; therefore it is important to see your eye doctor if you have a cornea transplant and experience any redness, light sensitivity, pain, or decreased vision. Below are some descriptions of the different types of cornea transplants available.

Penetrating keratoplasty (or PK) is a traditional corneal transplant where the entire diseased cornea is removed and replaced by a healthy normal donor cornea. A laser can be used to assist in the initial portion of the cornea transplant. This is known as Femtosecond Laser Enabled Keratoplasty, or FLEK. The donor cornea is held in place by microscopic stitches. Your eye surgeon may remove some stitches in the office months after the cornea transplant to improve vision.

Deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (or DALK) is a type of cornea transplant that replaces the top 90% of the diseased cornea with a healthy normal donor cornea. Your eye surgeon may recommend a DALK if only the top portion of the cornea is diseased. This procedure conserves the patient’s own back portion of the cornea, which helps to reduce rejection. The donor cornea is held in place by microscopic stitches which may be removed later.

Descemet’s Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty (or DSEK) is a new type of cornea transplant which selectively replaces only the diseased back portion of the cornea. Your eye surgeon may recommend a DSEK for swelling of the cornea or Fuchs’ corneal dystrophy. In DSEK, the healthy transplanted back portion of the donor cornea is held in place by an air bubble, not stitches. The air is placed in the eye during surgery and will naturally disappear after 3 days. Therefore, your eye surgeon will instruct you to lie flat for 2-3 days after DSEK so that the air bubble can support the transplanted cornea in the correct position. Recovery time for DSEK is faster compared to a traditional cornea transplant.