Refractive surgery for aphakia and myopia.

Epikeratophakia is a simple and reversible form of refractive surgery for the correction of aphakia and myopia and for the treatment of keratoconus, perforation and pterygium. The tissue lenses are attached to the de-epithelialised cornea; no invasion of the central optical zone is required. The safety of this procedure makes it a potential solution to the problem of optical correction in infants and children with congenital and traumatic cataracts. With the advent of commercially prepared tissue lenses, this surgery should become accessible to many ophthalmic surgeons. In the future, the combination of epikeratophakia and alloplastic lenses may provide high plus powers and exchangeable dioptric corrections, if a plastic can be found that the cornea will tolerate on a long-term basis.