Osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis
Osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis (OOKP) (also known as "tooth in eye" surgery) is a medical procedure to restore vision in the most severe cases of corneal and ocular surface patients. It includes removal of a tooth from the patient or a donor. After this, a lamina of tissue cut from the tooth is drilled and the hole is fitted with optics. The lamina is grown in the patients' cheek for a period of months and then is implanted upon the eye.
OOKP is a complex two stage operation which was pioneered in Italy in 1963 by Professor Benedetto Strampelli.
Stage 1 of the surgery involves 5 separate procedures:
- The eye is opened up and the entire inner surface of the eyelids, corneal surface and all scar tissue is removed
- Inner mucosal lining of the cheek is transplanted onto the new surface of the eye
- A canine or premolar tooth and part of the adjacent bone and ligaments are removed
- A bolt-shaped structure is fashioned from the tooth-bone complex which is fitted with a plastic optical cylinder
- The tooth-bone-cylinder complex is implanted into the patient's cheek to grow a new blood supply
Stage 2 (about 4 months later) involves 2 separate procedures:
- The cheek mucosal lining over the eye is opened and the inner contents of the eye are removed
- The tooth-bone-cylinder complex is removed from the cheek and inserted into the eye, the mucosal cheek lining is replaced over the implant.
At the end of the procedure, light can now enter through the plastic cylinder, and the patient is able to see through this cylinder with good vision.