title: Selecting patients for penetrating keratoplasty.
abstract: Proper selection of patients for successful penetrating keratoplasty depends on four important factors: (1) psychosocial factors, including visual need, the conditions under which the patient lives, and the patient's ability to nurture this tissue over many years; (2) the general condition of the eye, including the health of the ocular surface, intraocular pressure, motility, anterior segment anatomy, and vitreoretinal disease; (3) the structure of the host cornea--in terms of its thickness, vascularization, epithelial and stromal integrity, and sensation--as well as the corneal condition for which the operation is being done; and (4) the skills of the ophthalmologist managing the graft, particularly those involved in preoperative patient selection and postoperative graft management, as well as his technical surgical skills.
mesh_terms: D003315:Cornea / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D016039:Corneal Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D011300:Preoperative Care; D012306:Risk