Moorfields consultant develops new technique

A consultant specialist surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai (MEHD), has developed a new technique for corneal transplant surgery that could help reduce patient recovery time and complications.

Dr. Edmondo Borasio has named his new treatment ‘iLASIK,' and he is perfecting it using MEHD's new Femtosecond IntraLase, a state of the art laser technology.

"There are a number of applications of iLASIK that will particularly benefit patients in the UAE," said Dr Borasio.

"For instance, a common disease here is keratocornus, which involves a progressive bulging of the eye leading to severe astigmatism (irregularly shaped cornea) and cloudy vision."

"A partial corneal transplant for this disease will now be relatively painless, and astigmatism will be drastically reduced."

He explained the advantages of the new technique: "Partial thickness corneal transplants, also called ‘grafts,' are performed when only the front or the back of the cornea is diseased, but the rest is healthy."

"The advantages of transplanting only a layer rather than the whole cornea are that the eye doesn't need to be opened during surgery, the stitches can be removed earlier, and the graft is less likely to be rejected."

"In some cases, there is no need to apply any stitches to keep the graft in place, eliminating all suture-related complications such as infection and astigmatism."

With the iLASIK technique developed at MoorfieldsEye Hospital Dubai, the donor cornea is prepared in a special way before being cut and transplanted.

It is flipped inside-out and mounted on a special support before being cut with state-of-the-art laser technology, the IntraLase femtosecond laser.

This allows a perfect match between the donor and the recipient cornea, as opposed to traditional techniques. This improved match reduces postoperative astigmatism and improves vision without glasses after surgery.

"Dr. Borasio's progress in corneal surgery is an example of Moorfields' legacy of excellence," said Dr. Chris Canning, MEHD's CEO and medical director.

"Our parent facility has pioneered some of the most exciting ophthalmic research of our time, and we aim to bring the same standard of care and innovation to patients in the GCC."

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