Corneal transplant in Turkey

The cornea is the clear dome at the front of the eye. When it scars, clouds, swells or thins to the point that glasses and contact lenses no longer help, replacing the damaged tissue with donor tissue is the option that remains. Keratoconus, Fuchs endothelial dystrophy, scarring from infection or injury, and clouding after earlier eye surgery are the usual reasons.

Modern corneal surgery is layered rather than all or nothing. A surgeon can replace the full thickness of the cornea, or only the front layers, or only the innermost cell layer, depending on which part has failed. That choice is made from your scans and examination, not from preference, and it is the single biggest factor in what you pay and how long you wait for usable vision.

Each clinic's current figure appears in the price panel on this page with a basis chip. All inclusive package means surgery, anaesthesia, hospital stay, the usual medication, accommodation and transfers in one sum. Treatment only means the surgical fee and hospital costs alone, so the same operation will always look cheaper on that basis. Comparing the two is the most common mistake people make when weighing up clinics and countries.

What moves the figure in your case:

• Which graft you need. A partial thickness graft and a full thickness graft are different operations with different theatre times and different costs. This is set by your scans.
• One eye or both. Surgeons normally operate on one eye at a time and let it settle before considering the second, so treat two eyes as two episodes of cost and travel.
• Donor tissue and eye bank fees. The graft itself carries a cost, and pre cut tissue prepared by an eye bank for endothelial grafts is priced separately from tissue the surgeon prepares. Ask whether the quote includes it.
• Whether anything is combined. Cataract surgery and a lens implant are sometimes done in the same session as an endothelial graft, which changes both the quote and the recovery.
• Primary graft or a regraft. An eye that has been grafted before, or that has significant scarring and new blood vessels in the cornea, is a longer and more demanding operation.
• Hospital, city and length of stay. Fees differ, and the follow up schedule in the first week sets how many days you stay.

Quotes are prepared for your case from your scans and reports and sent in your currency. Ask for the basis in writing, and ask specifically whether donor tissue, medication, the in country follow up visits and any suture removal are included. Ask separately what happens if the graft fails and a regraft is needed, and who manages you once you are home.

Paying in instalments is possible, and the terms depend on your country of residence, the term you pick and a credit assessment. Card instalments are offered separately and carry a processing fee. Eligibility, terms, per country limits and rates are on the Flymedi payment plan page, because they change independently of treatment prices. Check the total repayable, the term and the fees before you sign.

A graft is offered when the cornea itself is the reason for lost vision or persistent pain and less invasive treatment has run out. You are likely to be a candidate if:

• glasses, contact lenses or scleral lenses no longer give you usable vision;
• you have keratoconus that has progressed beyond what cross linking or lenses can hold;
• you have Fuchs dystrophy or corneal swelling that clouds vision, often worst on waking;
• your cornea is scarred from infection, injury or earlier surgery;
• an earlier graft has failed and a regraft is being considered;
• the rest of the eye, the retina and optic nerve in particular, is healthy enough to use the vision a clear cornea would give;
• you can commit to months of eye drops and to follow up appointments after you are home.

The last point is not a formality. Anti rejection drops continue for many months and sometimes indefinitely, and a graft needs checking for the rest of its life. If you cannot arrange that care at home, say so before you book rather than after.

The sections below cover the operation end to end: what the cornea does and why it fails, how the surgery is performed, how recovery unfolds month by month, the rejection signs everyone with a graft is taught to watch for, and what vision to expect at the end of it.

Surgery takes roughly one to two hours per eye. It can be done under general anaesthesia or under local anaesthesia with sedation, and which is used depends on the graft, the surgeon and your own health. Most patients go home the same day or after one night.

• Preparation and anaesthesia. The eye is numbed or you are put to sleep, the surface is cleaned and the eye is held open. You do not see the operation happening.
• Removing the damaged tissue. A circular section is marked and the failed tissue is removed, either the full thickness or only the affected layers, using a trephine, a femtosecond laser or fine manual dissection.
• Placing the donor tissue. For a full or front thickness graft the donor disc is stitched in with very fine sutures, usually left long term. For an endothelial graft the thin donor layer is inserted folded or rolled and held against the back of your own cornea with an air or gas bubble instead of stitches.
• Positioning afterwards. If a bubble is used you will be asked to lie flat on your back for a set number of hours, sometimes over several days. This is not optional; it is what holds the graft in place while it attaches.
• Shield and drops. The eye is shielded, and a schedule of steroid and antibiotic drops begins. The first check is usually the next day.

This is the part that makes a corneal transplant different from most treatment abroad, and it is worth being blunt about. You will fly home while the eye is still healing, still on drops, and in the case of PK or DALK still carrying stitches that will need attention for months or years. Someone at home has to take that on.

Before you book, line up an ophthalmologist or eye department at home who will see you for post graft care, and confirm it rather than assume it. Ask the Turkish hospital for your operation note, the graft type, the donor tissue details and the drop schedule in writing, in English, and take a copy with you. Ask how they want to be contacted if something looks wrong and how quickly they answer. A loose stitch, a sudden red eye or a drop in vision needs seeing within days, not at your next planned visit.

What a graft restores is a clear window. It does not repair a retina or an optic nerve, so if there is other damage in the eye, vision after surgery is limited by that rather than by the graft. This is why the pre operative examination looks well beyond the cornea, and why an honest surgeon will tell you when a clear cornea is unlikely to give you the sight you are hoping for.

Where the rest of the eye is healthy, most people end up with substantially clearer vision than before, but very often still needing correction. Astigmatism after PK and DALK is commonly high enough that glasses alone are not the answer and a rigid gas permeable or scleral lens gives the better result. Plan for that possibility rather than being disappointed by it, and judge the outcome once the eye is stable, not at the first check after surgery.

The hard part of this procedure is not finding an eye hospital, it is finding a corneal specialist who does your graft type regularly and will be straight with you about what it will give you. Flymedi connects you with ophthalmologists working in cornea, with quotes prepared from your own scans, prices shown with a basis chip so comparisons are like for like, verified clinic profiles with accreditations and languages spoken, and coordination in your own language from first consultation through to recovery.