Pediatric Corneal Transplantation

Every year, hundreds of infants are born throughout the world with genetic diseases that cause opacities or cloudiness of the cornea (the window of the eye). Opacified corneas prevent light impulses from reaching the brain, which results in permanent blindness. But blindness may be prevented in these infants through the use of cornea transplant surgery. In this procedure, the opacified cornea is replaced with a donor cornea. This provides a new clear window that allows light impulses to be transmitted to the brain so that visual development may occur.

Cornea transplant surgery in children is very complex and technically far more challenging than adult corneal transplantation because of the fragile nature of infant tissue and the difficulty in visual rehabilitation in infants. Indeed, only a handful of surgeons in the world feel comfortable performing corneal transplants on infants because of the possibility of poor results, technical difficulties, and the enormous commitment needed to visually rehabilitate these patients. In many parts of the world, surgery is not even offered as an option, so that these children remain blind. After surgery. (24260 bytes)

The Cornea-Genetic Eye Medical Clinic is one of the few facilities in the western United States dedicated to pediatric corneal transplantation and research to improve the ultimate visual outcomes in these extremely complex cases. This unique facility benefits from having access to excellent pediatric anesthesia, state-of-the-art technology, and one of the most sophisticated genetic divisions in the world—the Medical Genetics-Birth Defects Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Mark Goodson Building. Thus, patients receive appropriate genetic work-up and genetic counseling prior to embarking on any surgical procedure.

Currently, more than forty pediatric corneal procedures and over one hundred ocular and genetic evaluations are performed annually. There is an active research program committed to improving visual outcomes following surgery and investigating the underlying causes of genetic eye diseases. Every other year, a "Genetic Disease and the Eye" conference is held at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to provide healthcare advances in this area, including how to provide appropriate medical care to patients with genetic eye diseases.

Milestones In Pediatric Corneal Transplantation at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
1992	First "Genetic Disease and the Eye" conference.
1992	First novel corneal procedure is performed on baby with Fraser Cryptophthalmos syndrome.
1993	Second "Genetic Disease and the Eye" conference is held.
1994	A dozen pediatric corneal procedures are performed annually.
1994	Recommendations for preventing blindness in children with congenital corneal disease are presented to the World Health Organization at the United Nations Conference in New York.
1995	The Cornea-Genetic Eye Medical Clinic becomes an international center with referrals from Mexico, Italy and Saudi Arabia.
1996	More than 200 healthcare professionals attend the third "Genetic Disease and the Eye" conference.
1996	Favorable outcomes are achieved with pediatric corneal transplantation and the results presented at the European Congress of Ophthalmology in Milan, Italy.
1997	Good visual outcome in an infant with Fraser’s Syndrome, who received a cornea transplant in 1992 and is now five years old, is reported and published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology.
1997	To date, approximately 40 pediatric corneal procedures and 100 genetic consultations are being performed, annually, with referrals from more than half-a-dozen countries.