[Osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis: a tooth to regain sight]

As the leading cause of blindness in the world, corneal diseases are second only to cataracts. However, the epidemiology of corneal disease is complex and includes a wide variety of infectious and inflammatory eye diseases (trachoma), immune sequelae (cicatricial pemphigoid on Lyell's disease) of after trauma (chemical burn). The general treatment for severe corneal disease is the corneal transplantation with penetrating keratoplasty. However, the failure of this treatment is virtually certain when the ocular surface is severely compromised. Keratoprosthesis is therefore the only viable option to restore vision in these patients. Only practiced by less than a dozen teams in the world, the osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis (OOKP) is regularly practiced at the University Hospital of Liège, thanks to a close collaboration between the ophthalmology and maxillofacial surgery teams. Thanks to removal of a tooth and his bone support, patients suffering from bilateral dry eye following pathologies such as burns or cicatricial pemphigoid can benefit from this technique in order to recover an optimal visual acuity in a sustainable way.