CORNEAL TATTOOING REVISITED - EXCIMER-LASER IN THE TREATMENT OF UNSIGHTLY LEUCOMATA

Background: Corneal tattooing, a procedure first used by Galen in the treatment of unsightly leucomata, has in recent times received relativ ely little attention due to major advances in intraocular and corneal surgery. Resurrection of the technique, however, may be reasonably con sidered in 'high risk' cases of leucomata or leucocoria where corneal transplantation would lead to rejection and failure, or, in eyes with no visual potential, where removal of cosmetically unacceptable dense, white cataracts carries an unreasonable risk of phthisis bulbi or sym pathetic ophthalmitis Methods: Corneal tattooing requires the accurate and limited removal of corneal epithelium to act as the tattoo bed an d unfortunately, if removal of the epithelium exceeds, or goes beyond the circumference of, the chosen area, a ragged cosmetically less plea sing 'pupil' is created. The excimer laser appears to be an ideal tool to create a perfectly circular corneal bed to improve upon older tech niques. Conclusion: We report, for the first time, an updated, simple and improved technique for successful corneal tattooing using excimer laser technology.