Femtosecond Laser Assisted Corneal Tattooing Of Blind Eyes

To describe the technique and report 3 cases of femto-second laser assisted corneal tattooing for blind eyes .

Frimley Park Hospital ,Surrey ,United Kingdom

3 blind eyes of 3 patients with near total white corneal opacity underwent corneal tattooing for cosmesis.For the pseudo-pupil , a corneal lamellar pocket was created using Victus femtosecond laser .This was programmed to a cut diameter of 3.5 mm ,depth 150 microns,line and spot spacing of 6 microns and tunnel width of 1200 microns.Energy was set at 1 micro J.This was followed by injection of blank ink ( Skin tattooing ink) into the pocket .To simulate an iris appearance ,multiple stromal punctures throughout cornea and limbal punctures covering 360 degress with the same ink were made titrated to match the fellow iris. Excess pigments was washed off and a bandage contact lens was placed. 

The application of femto-second laser for dissection was helpful in creating an artificial pupil to improve cosmesis .The cosmetic results were very satisfactory to the patient in all 3 cases and there were no intra-operative or post-operative adverse events.

Femto-second laser assisted corneal tattooing demonstrated high patient satisfaction and favourable cosmetic outcome in all patients.