Corneal Center
Corneal Transplant Surgery
Corneal transplants are performed on patients who have poor vision due to a cloudy or scarred cornea from either trauma, surgery, prior infection or certain types of hereditary eye diseases such as keratoconus. At Peninsula Laser Eye Medical Group, we’re pleased to provide Descemet’s Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty for cornea transplantation in addition to conventional full-thickness corneal transplants.
DSEK
Referred to as DSEK (Descemet’s Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty), this procedure involves replacing just the damaged inner cell layer of the cornea, rather than replacing the whole thickness of the cornea. In this technique, a thin piece of donor corneal tissue is inserted through a small incision. The results are a smoother corneal surface with increased speed of healing, as compared to a traditional full-thickness corneal transplants.
Dr. Volpicelli was one of the first corneal transplant surgeons in the Bay Area to be specially trained in the innovative DSEK technique. And, he offers this revolutionary procedure to patients throughout Northern California and the Bay Area.
More About DSEK
Historically, full-thickness corneal transplant surgery has not changed significantly in the last 30 years. A conventional corneal transplant requires long periods of convalescence, sometimes upwards of 12 months for patients to enjoy good-stable vision. The traditional corneal transplant procedure requires multiple sutures and a lengthy post-operative recovery period until one reaches their final refraction and “best-spectacle-corrected vision”. Now, with the advent of DSEK, we are able to make a small 1/4 inch incision in the eye and insert a partial thickness corneal transplant into the eye which requires only a single suture and several weeks for good recovery of vision.
Benefits of DSEK
- Stronger corneal integrity with less sutures
- Faster recovery and rehabilitation
- Reduced chance of corneal graft rejection
- Much improved vision: several weeks rather than several months
DSEK is specifically suited for patients who have posterior corneal diseases with endothelial dysfunction. Patients with corneal conditions such as Fuch’s dystrophy, bullous keratopathy or failed prior corneal transplants are surgical candidates who may benefit from the DSEK technique.
PKP Corneal Transplant
Following disease, infection or injury, the cornea may become weakened, cloudy, or irregular in shape. If medicines, contact lenses, or other treatments are ineffective, in some cases the damaged cornea can be replaced with a healthy cornea from a deceased person. This replacement procedure is called a corneal transplant or penetrating keratoplasty, oftentimes called a PKP for short.
Although attempts at corneal transplantation were made 100 years ago, the first consistent success was achieved was achieved by Dr. Ramon Castroviejo and Dr. Max Fine in the 1950′s. Corneal transplant is the most successful of all tissue transplants. An estimated 40,000 such operations are performed in the United States each year. Dr. Volpicelli and Dr. Shahinian are both Board-Certified ophthalmologists and both are corneal transplant and external disease specialists.
PKP Donor Tissue
Corneal tissue for transplantation comes from an Eye Bank. The process begins when someone has been generous enough to donate his or her eyes following their death. The Eye Bank carefully screens the donor cornea to ensure it meets the National Eye Bank Association quality standards. The color of the donor eye is irrelevant, since only the transparent dome in the front of the patient’s eye is replaced, and not the colored iris behind it. Similarly, tissue typing is not necessary since their are no blood vessels in the normal healthy cornea. When healthy tissue becomes available, the central Eye Banks enter the information into a nationwide computer network. The corneal tissue is then sent by airplane to the site where it is needed after careful selection and screening by your surgeon. The tissue can be stored for several days in a nutrient fluid before use in the case of a PKP.
Dr. Volpicelli has been performing corneal transplants since the mid 1980′s and he is an expert at both PKP and DSEK corneal surgery. Dr. Volpicelli performed the first corneal transplant in both St Kitts (in the Caribbean) and British Honduras (in Central America) during his residency and corneal fellowship training back in 1987 and 1989, respectively.
- Schedule Appointment
- Contact Us
- Share:
