KERATOPROSTHESES - ADVANCING TOWARD A TRUE ARTIFICIAL CORNEA

Citation
Cr. Hicks et al., KERATOPROSTHESES - ADVANCING TOWARD A TRUE ARTIFICIAL CORNEA, Survey of ophthalmology, 42(2), 1997, pp. 175-189
Citations number
136
Categorie Soggetti
Ophthalmology
Journal title
ISSN journal
00396257
Volume
42
Issue
2
Year of publication
1997
Pages
175 - 189
Database
ISI
SICI code
0039-6257(1997)42:2<175:K-ATAT>2.0.ZU;2-E
Abstract
Keratoprosthesis surgery is carried out in very few centers. Elaborate surgical techniques and high complication rates limit the application of currently available keratoprostheses (KPros). However, the clinica l need for an alternative to donor tissue has sparked considerable res earch interest in the development of new KPros. This paper charts the evolution of KPros from the earliest devices to those currently used, describes their drawbacks and discusses the specifications of an ideal device. Recent research focuses upon the use of porous polymers as th e skirt component of core-and-skirt KPros in order to obtain improved biological integration of the prosthetic material. Developments in bio material als technology make a KPro analogous to a donor corneal butto n an increasingly realistic goal. However, two particular problems sti ll need to be addressed. First, it must be demonstrated that secure lo ngterm fixation that is able to withstand trauma is achievable in a fu ll-thickness artificial cornea. Second, an ideal artificial cornea for a wet eye requires an epithelialized surface, and this has yet to be achieved. (C) 1997 by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.