A Gundersen flap, also known as Gundersen's flap, Gundersen's conjunctival flap, or conjunctivoplasty, and often misspelled Gunderson, is a surgical procedure for correcting

corneal disease The cornea is the transparency (optics), transparent front part of the human eye, eye that covers the Iris (anatomy), iris, pupil, and Anterior chamber of eyeball, anterior chamber. Along with the anterior chamber and Lens (anatomy), lens, the c ...

. It involves excising a damaged section of cornea, and replacing it with a section (or "flap") of the patient's own

conjunctiva The conjunctiva is a thin mucous membrane that lines the inside of the eyelids and covers the sclera (the white of the eye). It is composed of non-keratinized, stratified squamous epithelium with goblet cells, stratified columnar epithelium ...

. It is named for Trygve Gundersen (1902 – February 24, 1987), an American

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgery, surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Followin ...

of Scandinavian descent, who first described the procedure in 1958 at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.

References

{{reflist Eye surgery 1958 introductions