Corneal Transplant (Keratoplasty)

The popular term "eye transplant" is incorrect; the eyeball or the optic nerve itself cannot be transplanted as a whole. Only the 10-12 millimeter "cornea", which is the outermost transparent glass of the eye (that first refracts light), is cut like a button and replaced. If your retina and nerves are intact, vision starts again.

Compared to liver or heart transplants, the body's tissue rejection rate in corneal transplants is much, much lower. Because normally there are no blood vessels in the corneal tissue; therefore, the body's immune system cells cannot go to that area and say "there is a foreign tissue here". Transplantation can be done even without the need for tissue matching (blood type, etc.).

In the past, all 5 layers of the cornea were cut and removed at once (Penetrating / Full-Thickness). Today, in techniques performed with modern lasers and microscopes (Lamellar Transplant), whichever part of the cornea is diseased, only that thin membrane is replaced. For example, if the disease is only in the top layer, the bottom membrane is preserved. Thanks to these methods, postoperative healing is very fast, and the durability of the eye increases.