Keratoplasty
The most common cause of reduced or lost vision is corneal pathology. The cornea is the front part of the eye, which should normally be spherical and transparent.
Keratoplasty is a surgical operation during which the damaged part of the cornea is replaced with a donor cornea – a keratobioimplant.
Ophthalmology Group is the only clinic in Ukraine that performs all possible types of keratoplasty:
- Penetration keratoplasty is the replacement of the full thickness of the cornea
- Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty (DALK — Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty) – replacement of the front layers of the cornea.
The advantages of this operation over keratoplasty are:
– The possibility of preserving the healthy inner endothelial layer of the patient’s cornea
– There is no need to use donor endothelium
– Less risk of rejection of the keratobioimplant
– No loss of the patient’s endothelial cells during surgery
– Extending the lifespan of a keratobioimplant
– Reducing the patient’s rehabilitation period
The most modern methods and equipment
We use the most modern methods and equipment to perform deep anterior laminar keratoplasty (DALK ) and penetrating keratoplasty. The technique includes a femtosecond laser incision of the cornea and keratobioimplant and performing all stages of the operation under the control of a microscope with the function of intraoperative optical coherence tomography of the cornea.
The femtosecond laser significantly improves the quality and accuracy of anterior deep-layered keratoplasty (DALK )
- Posterior layer-by-layer keratoplasty – replacement of the posterior endothelial layer of the patient’s cornea, in the absence of damage to the anterior layers.
This type of keratoplasty has the shortest rehabilitation period for the patient and the most predictable increase in visual acuity. The operation can be performed under local anesthesia.
Indications for keratoplasty are:
– Keratoconus (at advanced stages of the disease, when therapeutic methods of treatment are no longer effective)
– Degenerative and acquired corneal dystrophies
– Epithelial-endothelial dystrophy of the cornea
– Corneal scarring and clouding
– Corneal ulcers and perforations caused by infections
– Injuries of the cornea
