The cornea is a transparent layer located In front of the eye. It is a very powerful lens; its power is approximately 44 Diopters. The diopter is a measure of the lenses power. The cornea transplant is the surgery that replaces the cornea that lost its transparency, or got deformed, by a new and healthy one, of a donor.
The cornea has 5 layers, and according to the affected layer, the present technology allows us to replace only the diseased layer of the cornea. These micrografts of the cornea allow us to avoid the total corneal graft in most cases.
Symptons and Descrition
A very common disease that requires cornea transplant is keratoconus. In this disease the cornea gradually loses its spherical shape and takes a conical one, thereby distorting the image which reaches the bottom of the eye causing a major defect in the vision.
Contact lenses that are commonly used to improve the vision are not always tolerated, or might damage the cornea with chronic use. That situation can lead to the need of a transplant.
There are other less frequent causes of corneal opacification, such as: scars from wounds or infections, abnormal fluid accumulation, corneal edema produced by inner layers diseases; congenital or after birth opacification.
Treatment
After a clinical and general examination of the eye, the patient should be registered in the official institutions that regulate the tissue donation to be on a waiting list of national corneas. Another possibility is to obtain it from foreign eye banks. The donated corneas are examined and classified according to their state at the time of donation, and in regard to the donor’s background: hepatitis or AIDS.
The tissue can be stored up to 15 days in special liquid tissue culture that allows a programmed scheduled surgery.
Surgery:
In a transplant, the part of the damaged cornea is removed and replaced with a healthy and transparent one. The donor’s cornea is sutured to the receiving eye of the patient .If the surgery consists in changing the inner layers of the cornea, this procedure doesn’t require suture.
The surgery is done under local anesthesia in most cases, and it is an outpatient surgery. Sometimes the patient has to stay in Mendoza for a short period of observation.
