The C J Shah Cornea Services at Sankara Nethralaya, established in 1978 and presently headed by Dr Prema Padmanabhan, is a centre dedicated to the management of corneal disorders. The department consists of 8 well-trained corneal surgeons and is well equipped with instrumentation and technology to provide state-of-the-art care for patients suffering from a wide variety of corneal disorders. The department has an elaborate academic and surgical training programme for fellows in cornea and external eye diseases. Research programme encompasses both basic and clinical work involving corneal diseases and transplantation. In a year about 45,000-50,000 outpatients are seen and about 3,500 surgeries are performed in the department. A total of 1200-1300 refractive surgeries and 650-700 corneal transplants are done each year.

Clinical Profile:

The department caters to the efficient diagnosis and management of a wide range of diseases:

The department offers most recent advances in the field of corneal surgery which include:

• Penetratingkeratoplasty: (Optical, tectonic and therapeutic) with anterior segment reconstruction, Combined with SFIOL Vitreo-retinal procedures and Paediatric PK
• Lamellar corneal surgeries: Including Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty (DALK), Deep Lamellar Endothelial Keratoplasty (DLEK) and Descemet's Stripping EndoKeratoplasty (DSEK), Automated Lamellar Therapeutic Keratoplasty (ALTK)
• Refractive corneal surgery:Refractive surgery offers the state of art facility for various laser refractive procedures like LASIK, Epi-LASIK, PRK and Wavefront guided customized ablation
• Ocular surface reconstruction surgeries
• Collagen Cross Linking for keratoconus

Ocular Surface Clinic: The first of its kind in the country, caters to a wide variety of surface disorders including dry eye, chemical injuries, Stevens Johnson syndrome and ocular surface neoplasias. The surgical management includes:

Recent Advances

•  Customized laser refractive surgery: A strategy to correct not only the refractive error but also the other optical imperfections of the eye, known as aberrations.

•  Collagen cross linking for keratoconus A new modality for arresting progression of keratoconus by strengthening the corneal collagen fibres, involving the use of UV-Light and Riboflavin.

Facilities & Diagnostic Services

• CornealTopography(PENTACAM,TMS-4,TOPOLYZER)
  Evaluates shape and power of corneal surface. The Pentacam, based on the Schiempflug photography is unique in that it provides invaluable information that other instruments are incapable of measuring.
• Pachymetry
  Measurement of corneal thickness
• Aberrometry
  Measures the optical aberrations of the eyeball.
• Specular Microscopy
  Study of the corneal endothelium (cells that maintain corneal clarity)
• Anterior segment digital photography
• Microbiological and histopathological evaluation of diseases of external eye diseases
• Immunohistopathlogicial diagnosis of various immune disorders
• Specialized Contact lens fitting – for irregular cornea, keratoconus and for therapeutic  purposes
• Eye Bank
  24 hour corneal tissue retrieval, assessment and processing under laminar flow and storage. A dedicated team that promotes awarness of eye donation. Can be contacted through dedicated telephone line number 28281919

Teaching activities

• Postgraduate teaching: Aims at providing an in-depth knowledge of various corneal disorders and diagnostic procedures to the postgraduate students.
• The Cornea Fellowship training programme: Comprehensive training programme in various aspects of medical and surgical management of corneal disorders

Research activities

Major ongoing research projects are:

Faculty

Director Cornea & Refractive Surgery Services
Dr Prema Padmanabhan
Sankara Nethralaya, JKCN Complex,
21, Pycrofts Garden Road,
Chennai 600 006.
Tel:91-44-28233556, 28271616, 28311913 /
Extn. 2251

Email ID:drpp@snmail.org