DSEK

This stands for Descemet’s Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty. It is a “partial” corneal transplant surgery where only the inside layers of the cornea are replaced.  This is a vast improvement over traditional full-thickness transplants, as the surgical and healing time are much shorter and this surgery eliminates much of the risk of more advanced transplants. This type of surgery is primarily used with Fuchs’ dystrophy, a condition where the inner corneal “pump cells” are unable to keep the cornea clear and need to be replaced.