Femtosecond laser-assisted lamellar keratoplasty

Lamellar keratoplasty consists of transplanting partial-thickness donor cornea onto a complementary recipient bed. Manual lamellar dissection is technically very difficult, time-consuming, and imprecise. Also, the manually-dissected lamellar interface often has topographical irregularities that may optically degrade the best-corrected visual acuity. The femtosecond clinical laser (IntraLase FS Laser, Irvine, CA) is a recent innovation that can be programmed to produce bladeless, precise lamellar cuts at any depth with accompanying trephination cuts for both anterior and posterior lamellar transplantation. Posterior laser cuts may be used to assist in deep lamellar endothelial keratoplasty or Descemet's stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty.