Implantation of a corneal graft–keratoprosthesis for severe corneal opacity in wet blinking eyes

The condition

The cornea is the clear outer layer at the front of the eyeball that acts as a window to the eye. Injury, surgery or disease can make the cornea cloudy (corneal opacity), affecting vision. The standard treatment for significant corneal opacity is a corneal transplant, which is an operation to remove all or part of a damaged cornea and replace it with healthy donor tissue. Some people can't have a standard corneal transplant, for example, because of disease severity or a failed previous corneal transplant, or when medicines needed to prevent rejection of a donor cornea aren't suitable.

NICE has looked at implantation of a corneal graft–keratoprosthesis in people with reasonably intact blink and tear mechanisms (wet blinking eyes) as another treatment option.

NHS Choices (www.nhs.uk) may be a good place to find out more.