Since 2013, the Department of Inflammatory Eye Diseases at the Center has been the first in Armenia to perform Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty (DALK) surgeries.

Penetrating keratoplasty has been performed at the Center since 1986, with approximately 150–200 patients undergoing this surgery each year to restore vision lost due to corneal opacities (including keratoconus, chemical burns, superficial corneal ulcers, etc.). However, DALK represents a major innovation.

In this procedure, only the anterior layers of the cornea are removed and replaced with donor tissue, while the patient's deep corneal layers remain intact. This significantly reduces the risk of graft rejection — by almost 10 times.

DALK is recommended in cases where the deeper layers of the patient’s cornea are still clear — for example, in early to moderate stages of keratoconus or corneal scarring that affects only the anterior layers.