Corneal Transplantation: Endothelial Keratoplasty

Abstract

In the past years, a new technique for corneal transplantation has emerged. Termed endothelial keratoplasty (EK), this procedure selectively replaces only the inner layers of the cornea, i.e., the endothelium. Because EK involves transplantation of only the inner layers of the cornea, it has several advantages over PK: these include less extensive surgery, faster recovery, better wound integrity, and less irregularity induced by suturing. Because of these advantages, EK is the preferred operation over PK when only the endothelium of the patient’s cornea is diseased.