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Corneal Transplants
The cornea is the clear part at the front of
the eye, covering the pupil and iris. The cornea helps to focus
light, and a clear, healthy cornea is essential for good vision.
If the cornea is damaged, or becomes swollen or scarred, it may
lose its clarity or smoothness, scattering or distorting the light
and leading to blurred vision.
Ophthalmologists perform over 40,000 cornea transplants
- sometimes called keratoplasty - each year in the US - it is the
most common and most successful type of surgery done today. Looking
through a microscope, the ophthalmologist measures the eye for transplant,
carefully removes the injured cornea and sews the new donor cornea
into place.
Transplant surgery would not be possible without
the hundreds of thousands of generous donors and their families
who have donated corneal tissue to enable others to see.
Additional sites pertaining to corneal disease:
- About Corneal
Dystrophies - Molecular Ophthalmology Lab., University of
Iowa (US)
Cornea, External Disease & Cataract
Cornea, External Disease & Cataract Physicians
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