Corneal
Cornea is the transparent, front part of the eye. We treat following corneal disorders:
- dry eye
- allergic conjunctiviits
- Recurrent corneal erosions
- Conjunctivitis (“Pink Eye”)
- Epithelial Basement Membrane dystrophy
- Fuchs’ endothelial dystrophy
- Keratoconus
- Ocular Herpes & Shingles
- Pterygium
- Corneal Scars from trauma
Treatment for corneal disease can take many forms, depending on the underlying problem as well as the patient’s preferences. Some conditions resolve on their own and many can be treated with medication. If the cornea is severely damaged or if there is a risk of blindness, a corneal transplant may be recommended to preserve vision.
About Corneal Transplants
A corneal transplant is a type of eye surgery we perform to replace diseased, damaged, or scarred corneal tissue with new healthy corneal tissue. Since diseased, damaged, or scarred corneal tissue does not allow light to effectively pass into the eye and reach the retina, poor vision and even blindness may result from a damaged cornea. There are several different types of corneal transplants that Corneal Specialist Arusha Gupta, M.D. performs.
Descemet’s Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty (DSEK)
This type of Corneal Transplant is performed through a small incision, to remove and replace the inner cell layer of the cornea when it stops working properly. With this technique, we gently “strip” off the single diseased cell layer, called the Endothelium, and leave the remaining cornea intact. Using a prepared thinly sliced donor cornea from the eye bank we can fold the back portion in half and inserts it through a small incision into the eye. We then use an air bubble to unfold and position the donor tissue on the recipient’s cornea. Within a few minutes, the donor tissue attaches to the recipient without the use of any sutures. There are many advantages of DSEK if you are indeed a candidate:
- Your eye remains much stronger
- Visual recovery is very rapid
- DSEK causes little change in eyeglass glasses prescription