Corneal Transplant Treatment in India
A corneal transplant, also known as Corneal Grafting is a surgical procedure to replace the diseased or damaged cornea with healthy corneal tissue from a donor. The cornea is a transparent, dome-shaped surface of the eye that accounts for a large part of the human eye’s focusing power.
A cornea transplant can reduce pain, restore vision, and improve the appearance of a diseased or damaged cornea.
A corneal transplant is most often used to restore vision to a person who has a damaged or diseased cornea. It may also relieve pain or other symptoms and signs associated with diseases of the cornea.
A cornea that bulges outward (keratoconus)
Fuchs’ dystrophy
Thinning of the cornea
Cornea scarring, caused by infection or injury
Clouding of the cornea
Swelling of the cornea
Corneal ulcers, including those caused by infection
Complications caused by previous eye surgery
A thorough eye exam: The eye doctor thoroughly looks for conditions that may cause complications after surgery.
Measurements of your eye: The eye doctor determines what size of donor cornea the patient needs.
A review of all supplements and medications the patient is taking: The doctor may advise the patient to stop taking certain supplements or medications before or after the cornea transplant.
Treatment for other eye problems: Unrelated eye problems, such as inflammation or infection, may reduce the chances of a successful cornea transplant. Firstly, the doctor will work to treat those problems before corneal transplant surgery.
Most corneas that are used in cornea transplants come from deceased donors. Unlike other organ transplants kidney and liver, people needing cornea transplants generally will not need to wait for long. That’s because of the reason that many people request for cornea donation after they die, so more corneas are available for transplantation.
Corneas may not be used from donors with conditions, such as some central nervous system conditions, infections, and prior eye surgeries, or from people who died from an unknown cause.
On the day of your cornea transplant, the patient will be given a sedative to help him/her relax and a local anesthetic to numb the eye. The patient won’t be asleep during the surgery, but he/she will not feel any pain.
Penetrating keratoplasty is the most common type of procedure used for Corneal transplant. During this procedure, the surgeon cuts through the entire thickness of the diseased or abnormal cornea to remove a tiny button-sized disk of corneal tissue. An instrument trephine is used to make this accurate circular cut.
The donor cornea is cut to fit and placed in the opening.
The surgeon then stitches the new cornea into place.
In some cases, if the patient is not eligible for a cornea transplant from a donor cornea, surgeons may insert an artificial cornea That is known as keratoprosthesis.
For many cornea problems, a full-thickness cornea transplant isn’t always the best and most appropriate treatment. For such problems, other types of transplants may be used to remove only certain layers of corneal tissue, or tissue affected by the disease. These types of procedures include:
Endothelial keratoplasty (EK) : This procedure removes the damaged or diseased tissue from the back corneal layers, including the endothelium, and Descemet membrane. Descemet is a thin layer of tissue that protects the endothelium from infection and injury. Then the donor tissue is implanted to replace the removed tissue.
There are two types of endothelial keratoplasty. The most common type, called DSEK (Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty), replace about one-third of the cornea with the donor tissue.
A newer type of procedure, called DMEK (Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty), uses a much thinner layer of donor tissue. The tissue used in DMEK is extremely fragile and thin, so, this is more challenging than DSEK.
Anterior lamellar keratoplasty (ALK) : Anterior lamellar keratoplasty removes diseased or damaged tissue from the front corneal layers, including the stroma and the epithelium, but leaves the back endothelial layer in place.
The depth of cornea damage determines the right ALK procedure for the patient. SALK (Superficial anterior lamellar keratoplasty) replaces only the front layers of the patient’s cornea, leaving the healthy endothelium intact. A DALK (Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty) transplant procedure is used when cornea damage extends deeper into the stroma.
In DALK (Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty), a small incision is made in the side of the eyeball to allow the removal of the cornea’s middle and front layers without damaging the back layers. Healthy tissue from a donor is then grafted to replace the removed portion.
Once the corneal transplantation is completed, the patient can expect to:
Receive medications : Eye Drops and, sometimes, oral medications are given to the patient immediately after a corneal transplant. These medications will help control infection, pain, and swelling.
Wear an eye patch: The patient is advised to wear an eye-patch; it will protect the eye as it heals after the surgery.
Protect the eye from injury : Plan to take it easy after the cornea transplant, and slowly resume your normal activities such as exercise. For the rest of their life, the patients need to take extra precautions to avoid harming the eye.
Return for frequent follow-up exams : The patient is advised to visit the doctor frequently for eye exams so that the doctor can find any complications in the first year after surgery.
A thorough eye exam of the patient is done. The eye doctor thoroughly looks for conditions that may cause complications after surgery.
The doctor might order lab tests, such as blood work, X-rays, or an EKG.
However, the cost of the procedure may be affected by the following factors:
The hospital patient is opting for.
Type of Room: Standard single, deluxe, or super deluxe room for the number of nights specified (including meals, nursing fee, room rate, and room service.)
Operating room, ICU
Fee for the team of doctors (Anesthetist, Surgeons, Physiotherapist, Dietician)
Medicines
Physiotherapy session
Depend on the treatment options
Standard test and diagnostic procedures
Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty (DSEK)
Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK)
Anterior lamellar keratoplasty (ALK)
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