Alternatives to allograft corneal transplantation

Corneal transplantation is the most commonly performed solid organ transplantation in the world. Despite a glorious history of more than a 100 years, the success of conventional corneal transplantation surgery is marred by problems like graft rejection,graft infection and associated glaucoma due to long-term use of topical corticosteroids.In addition there is a dearth of donor corneal tissue in some parts of the world which subsequently adds on to the existing burden on the eye banks every year. We propose alternatives to the conventional corneal transplantation surgery for the management of corneal scarring.

The potential use of alternatives to allograft corneal transplantation surgery has been described by corneal surgeons around the world. These techniques consist of nonsurgical interventions like contact lens fitting. Surgical alternatives include excimer laser phototherapeutic keratectomy, optical iridectomy, rotational autokeratoplasty and contralateral autokeratoplasty. Although these techniques are not practiced routinely, however, their appropriate utilization would clearly help the corneal surgeons to get rid of certain problems associated with allograft corneal transplantation.

Careful selection of patients can yield encouraging results with the use of these alternative techniques. Visual outcomes may not be as good as after a routine keratoplasty; nevertheless, this setback is outweighed by advantages such as absence of corneal graft rejection. We also believe that the use of these techniques would at least partially resolve the issue of scarcity of donor corneal tissue in the developing world.