Cornea transplants done with air bubble technique

A 20-year-old Emirati woman and a 12-year-old Iraqi boy underwent cornea transplants, using air bubble technique known as ‘Deep Lamellar Cornea Transplant’, which is available in very few countries, said Dr Salih Saif, consulting ophthalmologist at SKMC, who performed the surgeries.

Recalling the history of the cases, he said the patients had vision impairment resulting from ‘keratoconus’, a medical condition in which cornea takes a steep curve, causing sight weakness. “The old techniques for cornea transplant have 10 to 40 per cent risk of the body rejecting implanted cornea. However, the new technique makes the risk of cornea rejection almost zero,” said Dr Saif.

About causes of keratoconus and its prevalence, the expert said the disease was very common in the UAE and the Gulf region, followed by corneal infections and trauma. “The etiology of keratoconus is not known but five to 10 per cent of the disease has been identified as genetic. Keratoconus is also associated with chronic eye allergies,” Dr Saif said.

Concerning the quality of transplanted cornea, he said SKMC deals with well-recognised eye banks in the United States, which are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure excellent quality of cornea.

“We also have a close monitoring system to make sure imported cornea are in good condition,” he pointed out.

Dr Saif said SKMC will conduct 50 cornea transplant surgeries this year and “we expect to conduct over 100 operations per annum with almost zero risk of cornea rejection.”