Archived Corneal Transplant Articles
New Laser Technology Gives The Gift Of Sight
The cornea is the clear tissue in front of the eye. It is
essentially the window for viewing the world. Unfortunately, certain
eye conditions can lead to permanent clouding of the cornea resulting
in blindness. Most people are familiar with the nationwide alert
earlier this year concerning Renu Moisture Loc contact lens solution
because it was associated with severe fungal infections that led to
corneal clouding. Other conditions that affect the cornea in a similar
fashion include Keratoconus and Fuch’s dystrophy. In Keratoconus, the
cornea progressively steepens like a cone until it scars centrally and
it often affects young adults. Fuchs Corneal Dystrophy affects older
adults and it is a condition in which the cornea swells and clouds over
time. Fortunately, through organ donation, a cloudy cornea can be
replaced with a clear one to restore vision. In fact, corneal
transplantations are the most successful organ transplantations
conducted in the world. Corneal transplantations had been done one way
for the past half decade. But now there is a major innovation in the
transplantation process. Corneal tissues are now being precisely
processed with laser beam technology stemmed from bladeless LASIK. This
more advanced technique allows quicker recovery time and even better
results than in the past for people receiving a corneal tranplant. This
is the holiday times and the best gift anyone could ever receive is
that of sight. So I encourage people to sign up to become organ donors
by contacting the Pennsylvania Department of Health at 1-800-PA-HEALTH.
