The quicker rejection is diagnosed, the better the chance of recovery. If your eye gets red, watery or gritty, and develops cloudiness of the vision, then rejection may be the cause and you are advised to attend your eye casualty department immediately . If rejection is found, it is treated with very frequent, strong steroid drops, and occasionally with steroid tablets or drip feeds. Most corneal grafts do recover from their rejection attack, but a lot of patients will need to go on with the steroid drops for a long time afterwards, sometimes permanently. However, this is never an exact match and some patients have to wait a long time for a suitable cornea to become available.
Tissue type is determined by a blood test.
The degree of benefit from tissue matching is unclear but is the subject of further research at present. Causes of failure of corneal transplants. A failed corneal transplant generally looks cloudy and dull, making the vision very blurred. This list gives the commonest reasons why a corneal transplant may eventually fail. Most patients with a failed transplant can be offered another one, but individual circumstances will dictate what is recommended in each case.