Corneal Tattooing

Iris defects, congenital or traumatic (spontaneous or iatrogenic) have esthetic and functional consequences (visual discomfort). The iris is an opaque barrier to light:  impairment induces photophobia or blurred vision.

Corrective procedures are based on suture (if there is sufficient iris remaining), artificial iris and sectorial rings (but with a lens implant). If ocular defect correction is not conducted, colored contact lenses may be used.

The method of dermal pigmentation of the iris consists in both an esthetic correction (iris color) and a functional correction (tattoo opacity to light). The method has long been used, since Indian publications report the technique as far back as in 1950.

Pigmentation using the tattoo technique was updated by VAN DER VELDEN, particularly with regard to the cornea. While the initial indications were esthetic treatment of corneal opacity, today the treatment addresses the iris of the seeing eye.

We will not consider 'esthetic tattoos' of the eyeball, the ethics of which are more than debatable, in contrast to tattoos of the iris, for which there are more serious esthetic and functional grounds.