Surgical manoeuvres to reduce the impact of corneal allograft rejection.

Allograft rejection is the major obstacle to successful corneal transplantation in high-risk cases. The risk factors are well recognized. Within the high-risk group, surgeons can influence graft survival by MHC antigen matching, by immunosuppression, by decreasing the number of antigen-presenting cells gaining access to the graft, and by avoiding up-regulation of MHC expression through the suppression of post-operative inflammation.