The cornea

The cornea, also called the „window of the eye“, has the function of permitting the incoming light rays to enter the inner part of the eye and then bundling them, so that the natural lens, which lies behind the pupil opening, can project or focus a sharp image of the environment onto the retina. For this it is important for the cornea to always be clear and transparent.

What is corneal transplantation or keratoplasty?

The natural, “transparent” properties of the cornea are negatively affected through abnormal ageing processes, inflammations, injuries or hereditary deformations. In worst case blindness may occur. In some cases, the only possibility of regaining a satisfying visual ability is to replace the own cornea by a donated corneal tissue.

Corneal transplantation, also called keratoplasty, is the most successful tissue transplantation ever in the history of medicine. The first successful corneal transplantation, by the way, was already performed in 1903 by an Austrian ophthalmologist. The foreign donor cornea was often well tolerated by the recipient for decades. Mostly the use of medications to prevent transplant rejection is only temporarily necessary.

In case of a successful transplantation, affected patients may regain their visual abilities and thus read, orientate themselves in traffic or pursue their former jobs.

Keratoplasty is nowadays the most common tissue transplant surgery but also the most successful one. This has been made possible due to the remarkable progress in the microsurgical technology, the postoperative medical treatment but most of all the biological properties of the cornea, which make it less vulnerable for the immune system of the recipient.