Preface

The practice of this subspecialty in ophthalmology diversifies each day, and grows with new surgical techniques and therapeutic approaches to corneal pathologies. This book on keratoplasties, divided into three sections, may perhaps seem too undemanding to some, but all the new therapeutic and surgical techniques are well approached in these chapters.

The long-lasting penetrating keratoplasty (PK) technique has shown to have good results, both anatomical and optical, leading to better visual outcomes despite other keratoplasty techniques, maintaining its place in corneal transplant surgery until today, especially in cases of infectious disease of the cornea. Moreover, for a long time, PK relegated lamellar keratoplasty (LK) techniques to primarily tectonic indications due to poor visual results. The development of new technologies (diamond knives, microkeratomes, lasers) and the creation of new surgical techniques (descemeting and predescemeting techniques) leading to better interfaces, have given a new impulse to lamellar keratoplasty surgery in the last years. Deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) and the Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty (DSEK), less invasive and equally effective both in anatomical and visual outcomes, are the leading techniques for most corneal pathologies in preference to the PK today.

This edition is in an electronic format, allowing universal access to everybody regardless of the time of day or setting, portability, and speed of information access. Such features help to reduce the time needed for research, showing more feasibility for all readers.

The main purpose of this book is to show the different therapeutic and surgical techniques to treat corneal pathologies, as well as analyzing the postoperative complications of the different treatments.

I hope that this book can serve as a good tool to all students approaching the field of corneal transplantation, and to all practitioners working in the field of corneal transplantation as a contribution to improvement in care for patients with corneal disease.

> **Luigi Mosca, MD**  Catholic University "Sacro Cuore", Rome, Italy

**Part 1** 

**Penetrating Keratoplasty** 
