Corneal Transplant Surgery
A corneal transplant involves the surgical replacement of a diseased or injured human cornea with a healthy portion of a donor cornea or a bioengineered cornea.
The reason for blindness or low vision in injured or diseased cornea is that it interferes with the normal passage of light into the eye. The transplant of clear, healthy donor tissue restores the normal visual pathway. In recent years, corneal transplant surgery has advanced so that in many cases, only that section of the cornea that is diseased or injured is replaced. These procedures are referred to as "lamellar keraroplasty". The LinkoCare bioengineered cornea can be used for "anterior lamellar keratoplasty" (ALK) or "deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty" (DALK). Anterior keratoplasty (ALK) replaces the superficial anterior section of the cornea while DALK replaces the entire stroma, or mid-section of the cornea. ALK or DALK is used to treat corneal conditions such as keratoconus, a disease where the cornea becomes cone-shaped and thins out resulting in impaired vision or blindness.
The medical term for a full thickness corneal transplantation is "keratoplasty".
The reason for blindness or low vision in injured or diseased cornea is that it interferes with the normal passage of light into the eye. The transplant of clear, healthy donor tissue restores the normal visual pathway. In recent years, corneal transplant surgery has advanced so that in many cases, only that section of the cornea that is diseased or injured is replaced. These procedures are referred to as "lamellar keraroplasty". The LinkoCare bioengineered cornea can be used for "anterior lamellar keratoplasty" (ALK) or "deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty" (DALK). Anterior keratoplasty (ALK) replaces the superficial anterior section of the cornea while DALK replaces the entire stroma, or mid-section of the cornea. ALK or DALK is used to treat corneal conditions such as keratoconus, a disease where the cornea becomes cone-shaped and thins out resulting in impaired vision or blindness.
The medical term for a full thickness corneal transplantation is "keratoplasty".