Meaning & use
keratoplasty
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable or uncountablemedicalspecialist
A surgical operation to replace part or all of a damaged cornea with healthy tissue from a donor.
Grammar: Can be used as a countable noun (a keratoplasty) or uncountable (undergo keratoplasty).
Patterns
- perform a keratoplasty
- undergo keratoplasty
- penetrating keratoplasty
The patient underwent a keratoplasty to restore vision after a severe eye infection.
Surgeons may recommend a keratoplasty when the cornea becomes cloudy or misshapen.
After the keratoplasty, she had to use eye drops for several months.
Word forms
| plural | keratoplasties |
|---|
Common combinations
- penetrating keratoplasty
- A penetrating keratoplasty replaces the entire thickness of the cornea.
- lamellar keratoplasty
- Lamellar keratoplasty removes only the outer layers of the cornea.
- undergo keratoplasty
- He will undergo keratoplasty next week to treat his corneal scarring.
- corneal transplant
- Corneal transplant is the more common term for keratoplasty.
Synonyms and how they differ
- corneal transplant
- This is the everyday term for the same procedure; keratoplasty is the medical term used by specialists.
- corneal grafting
- A less common synonym that emphasizes the grafting of tissue rather than the reshaping aspect.
Word family
- keratoplastic adjective
- Relating to keratoplasty or the cornea.
Commonly confused: keratoplasty or keratotomy?
keratoplasty vs keratotomy
Keratotomy is a surgical cut into the cornea, not a replacement; it is used in procedures like radial keratotomy for vision correction.
Practice
The surgeon decided to perform a _____ to replace the patient's damaged cornea.
Choose one answer.
Keratoplasty is the correct term for corneal replacement surgery. Keratotomy involves cutting the cornea, keratinoplasty is not a standard term, and keratectomy refers to removal of part of the cornea, not replacement.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “keratoplasty”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.