ARTIFICIAL CORNEA TRANSPLANTATION

Course overview

BILATERAL BLINDNESS SECONDARY TO CORNEAL DISEASE WORLDWIDE IS COMMON, ACCOUNTING FOR 12% OF TOTAL GLOBAL BLINDNESS. COMMON CAUSES ARE ANTERIOR CORNEAL PATHOLOGIES SUCH AS TRACHOMA, INFECTIOUS KERATITIS, OCULAR TRAUMA, CHEMICAL INJURIES, AND HIGH PREVALENCE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. PRIMARY CORNEAL TRANSPLANTATION (LAMELLAR OR FULL-THICKNESS) HAS HIGH GRAFT SURVIVAL. GRAFT SURVIVAL DECREASES WITH REPEAT TRANSPLANTATION AND IN COMPLEX EYES, DESPITE ADVANCES IN KERATOPLASTY TECHNIQUES AND MORE SELECTIVE TRANSPLANTATION OF TISSUE. THIS ACTIVITY REVIEWS ARTIFICIAL CORNEAL TRANSPLANTATION AND EXPLAINS THE INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAM'S ROLE IN EVALUATING AND TREATING PATIENTS WHO UNDERGO THIS PROCEDURE.