Refractive surgery is a subfield in ophthalmology that focusses on the surgical correction of ametropia. A multitude of refractive surgical methods are available to refractive surgeons... Show moreRefractive surgery is a subfield in ophthalmology that focusses on the surgical correction of ametropia. A multitude of refractive surgical methods are available to refractive surgeons.Individualized refractive correction, i.e. choosing the best available method for a particular patient, is one of the greatest challenges in refractive surgery. Choosing the appropriate treatment option should be based on the individual’s risk-benefit profile. For this, it is necessary for refractive surgeons to know the short- and long-term results of all current refractive correction methods and to be aware of the pitfalls and drawbacks of the anterior segment imaging techniques used for patient selection and follow-up.This thesis focusses on the safety of ametropic eyes optically corrected with the non-foldable iris-fixated phakic intraocular lens.The first part of this thesis reports on middle- and long-term clinical results after implantation of the non-foldable iris-fixated phakic intraocular lens for the correction of myopic and hyperopic refractive errors.In the second part of this thesis aspects of safety considerations with respect to patient selection criteria and follow-up are described. Show less
Corneal transplantation still represents the elected method for the treatment of corneal endothelial pathologies. However, the worldwide shortage of donor corneas induced the exploration of... Show moreCorneal transplantation still represents the elected method for the treatment of corneal endothelial pathologies. However, the worldwide shortage of donor corneas induced the exploration of approaches to use the donor tissue more efficiently or to be more independent from donor tissue. This thesis will illustrate the improvements of new strategies for cell-based corneal endothelial regeneration, alternative to corneal endothelial surgical transplantation, by bridging the gap between in vitro experiments and clinical models. In the studies described, we first address the establishment of a GMP-compliant protocol for in vitro hCEC culture for clinical application and then we focus on endothelial cell sheet transplantation, describing both in vitro and in vivo applications of expanded CEC-carriers constructs made by biocompatible materials. Show less
