If I get a corneal transplant for Fuchs’, can the disease attack the new transplanted tissue?
JUN 03, 2019
Question:
I’m in my 60s. If I get an endothelial corneal transplant (when the inner lining of the cornea is replaced with donor tissue) to treat Fuchs’ dystrophy, can the disease attack the new transplanted lining in the future?
Answer:
With a full- or partial-thickness corneal transplant, the endothelial cells, which don’t work as they should in Fuchs' dystrophy, are replaced with new endothelial cells from a donor. While Fuchs' does not attack the new corneal graft, the new cells can still fail for other reasons including rejection, trauma, infection, natural loss of cells, etc. If the graft fails, the cornea will again become swollen with clouding of vision and a repeat corneal transplant may be necessary. Overall, the rate of transplant failure is between 10-25%.