What is Cornea Transplantation
By: Paul FryattTotal Views: 167, Word Count: 552,
The only way of restoring full vision is to replace a clouded cornea. The cornea is replaceable through a transplant surgery, provided the rest of the eye including the optic nerve and the retina is normal. Cornea transplantation is said to be one of the most successful organ transplant surgeries.
The amount and type of harm the eye has sustained from injury or disease determines the success of the procedure. The success rate could be as high as 95%. However, it’s vital to remember that vision could be restored only to the extent that the other parts of the eye are normal. What is cornea transplantation can be known by understanding the procedure of the surgery.
Purpose
Cornea transplant is done when vision is lost in an eye because the cornea has been damaged by a traumatic injury or a disease. Some of the disease conditions which could require cornea transplant include the bulging outward of the cornea, painful swelling of the cornea and malfunction of the inner layer of the cornea. Some of these conditions result in cloudiness of the cornea; others modify its natural curvature which could also lessen the quality of vision.
Injury to the cornea could occur due to many reasons such as mechanical trauma, chemical burns or infection by bacteria, viruses, protozoa or fungi. The herpes virus produces one of the more common infections which lead to cornea transplant. Surgery would only be used when injury to the cornea is too stern to be treated with corrective lenses. Occasionally, cornea transplant is combined with other types of eye surgery such as cataract surgery to solve several eye problems in one procedure.
Tissue Availability
What is cornea transplantation and who donates the corneas need to be understood properly. Corneas for transplant come from people who have donated their eyes for use after their death for the benefit of others. Donor corneal tissue could be used up to maximum of four days after the death of the donor, depending on the method of preservation. This includes screening for AIDS.
With a few exceptions, tissue of the donor could be used up to the age of seventy. Factors such as color of the iris, sex, earlier vision of the donor, etc. have no control on the final outcome of the surgery.
Risk Associated with Cornea Transplant Surgery
As with any eye surgery, there is the likelihood of loss of sight in the eye, loss of the complete eye or likely loss of life due to abnormal reactions to anesthesia. Even though cornea transplants are greatly successful, there could be no guarantee with any other type of surgery. Bleeding, infection, glaucoma, poor wound healing, a wound leak and failure or refusal of the transplant are some of the possible complications which could occur. If a transplant fails it doesn’t necessarily mean loss of eye or blindness. Rather a successive transplant might be performed with a good chance of success.
Though cornea is not usually vascular, some corneal diseases cause vascularisation (the growth of blood vessels) into the cornea. In patients with these conditions, vigilant testing of both donor and recipient is performed in the same way as in the transplantation of other tissues and organs such as kidneys, heart and bone marrow.
About the Author
Paul Fryatt, M.D. has been in this profession from last 24 years. He made great achievements in his profession. He made an initiative to open a Family Allergy Clinic in 1985 to help his patients who were not reacting to traditional allergy treatment programs. Moreover he has explored the treatment to overcome allergy symptoms to reclaim quality of life through his convenient, no-shots therapy.
Advice Rating: Not yet rated
Login to vote