Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital (HKSH) is pleased to announce that a new corneal transplantation procedure – Descemet’s Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty (DMEK), a minimally invasive sutureless corneal transplantation technique, was firstly performed in Hong Kong last October 2012. The new technique involves transplanting an ultra thin layer of donated corneal cells (or the graft) of 0.01mm in thickness, which is 55 times thinner than the graft used in Penetrating Keratoplasty (PKP) technique and 15-20 times thinner than that used in the existing generation of lamellar transplantation technique – Descemet’s Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty (DSEK/DSAEK), resulting in lower rejection rate and faster visual recovery.

PKP is a surgical procedure where the patient’s diseased or damaged cornea is replaced by the donated full-thickness cornea. DMEK is a new type of lamellar karatoplasty, where only the innermost corneal layers are replaced. It replaces only the Descemet’s membrane and endothelium of 0.01mm in thickness, which accounts for less than 2% of the cornea. The patient's corneal structure can be largely retained after DMEK as compared with other transplant techniques. Since only the inner cell membrane is transplanted, most of normal structure of the cornea can be restored and the stroma can be adhered with a nearly perfect interface. Patients undergoing DMEK may result in better vision and faster recovery than those with DSEK/DSAEK.

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