title: Corneal transplant surgery.
abstract: Corneal disease is one of the major causes of blindness worldwide. Removal of the damaged cornea and transplant of donated tissue is often the only option available to patients to improve and restore vision. This paper discusses corneal transplant with consideration given to penetrating keratoplasty (PK), a traditional full thickness corneal transplant and three other surgical techniques that offer an alternative to the traditional PK surgery: deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK), deep lamellar endothelial keratoplasty (DLEK) and limbal stem cell transplant.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queen's University Belfast, Medical Biology Centre, Lisburn Road, Belfast, BT9 7BL. k.mccolgan@qub.ac.uk
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McColgan
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001766:Blindness / Q000209:etiology; D003316:Corneal Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery; D016039:Corneal Transplantation / Q000379:methods* / Q000451:nursing / Q000639:trends; D046148:Donor Selection; D005544:Forecasting; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D015948:Keratoplasty, Penetrating / Q000379:methods; D016850:Limbus Corneae / Q000166:cytology; D018579:Patient Selection; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods