Article

Dye decreases challenges of sutureless corneal transplant

Sutureless corneal transplantation surgery is sufficiently challenging in and of itself, so any improvement in the technique that lowers the rate of reoperation because of a poorly positioned donor disc or disc detachment is worthy of discussion.

Instilling a drop of indocyanine green (ICG) (IC-Green, Akorn) or trypan blue 0.1% (Vision Blue, Dutch Ophthalmic Research Co.), the latter of which is newly approved by the FDA, on the donor corneal stroma makes visualization and positioning of the tissue markedly easier. This in turn facilitates proper centration, augments visualization of the host-donor interface, and facilitates decreasing or elimination of any interface air bubbles, and thus, lowers the need for a second surgery to adjust the position of the grafted tissue or reattachment of a detached disc.

A disposable trephine (Moria) with a diameter based on surgeon preference is used in a guillotine fashion to punch the donor disc. The donor disc is then folded in a manner resembling a taco. The surface of the taco is either blue or green depending on which dye was used.

Air is then used to unfold the taco inside the anterior chamber. If the donor disc is not properly centered after it is unfolded, it can be moved easily into position onto the host inner corneal surface with a reverse Sinskey hook over an air bubble.

Newsletter

Don’t miss out—get Ophthalmology Times updates on the latest clinical advancements and expert interviews, straight to your inbox.

Related Videos
(Image credit: Ophthalmology Times)  ASCRS 2025: Joaquin De Rojas, MD, leverages machine learning model to predict arcuate outcomes
(Image credit: Ophthalmology Times) ASCRS 2025: AnnMarie Hipsley, DPT, PhD, presents VESA for biomechanical simulation of presbyopia progression
Shehzad Batliwala, DO, aka Dr. Shehz, discussed humanitarian ophthalmology and performing refractive surgery in low-resource, high-risk areas at the ASCRS Foundation Symposium.
(Image credit: Ophthalmology Times) ASCRS 2025: Advancing vitreous care with Inder Paul Singh, MD
(Image credit: Ophthalmology Times) The Residency Report: Study provides new insights into USH2A target end points
Lisa Nijm, MD, says preoperative osmolarity testing can manage patient expectations and improve surgical results at the 2025 ASCRS annual meeting
At the 2025 ASCRS Annual Meeting, Weijie Violet Lin, MD, ABO, shares highlights from a 5-year review of cross-linking complications
Maanasa Indaram, MD, is the medical director of the pediatric ophthalmology and adult strabismus division at University of California San Francisco, and spoke about corneal crosslinking (CXL) at the 2025 ASCRS annual meeting
(Image credit: Ophthalmology Times) ASCRS 2025: Taylor Strange, DO, assesses early visual outcomes with femto-created arcuate incisions in premium IOL cases
(Image credit: Ophthalmology Times) ASCRS 2025: Neda Shamie, MD, shares her early clinical experience with the Unity VCS system
© 2025 MJH Life Sciences

All rights reserved.