Why do so many operations to transplant corneas eventually fail?
Nearly one third of worldwide blindness is caused by diseases of the cornea – the transparent ‘window’ at the front of the eye.1 A corneal transplant can restore sight, but many transplants fail within 5 years, meaning people lose their vision for a second time.2,3 Researchers are investigating why infection with the herpes virus dramatically increases the chances that a transplant will fail. Ultimately, they hope to find ways to improve the success rate of transplants and save people’s sight.
