Surgeons in the Italian city of Turin have performed the world's first transplant of the macula — the central part of the retina — from one eye to the other. The operation restored the sight of 67-year-old Elena, who had been almost blind for several years, according to infohub.kz.
After the procedure, the woman immediately recognized her son and her dog. The operation was performed by ophthalmic surgeon Professor Michele Reibaldi at Molinette Hospital and lasted about six hours.
Elena lost her sight in her left eye after a road accident. The injury completely damaged the optic nerve that transmits signals from the eye to the brain, making it impossible to restore vision in that eye. However, the other tissues of the left eye remained relatively well preserved.
The situation with her right eye was the opposite: its optic nerve was undamaged, but the accident had damaged the retina, the cornea and the part of the eye containing stem cells. As a result, a conventional corneal transplant could not restore her sight.
Doctors then came up with the idea of using the undamaged parts of both eyes to create a single working eye. From the left eye to the right, they transplanted not only the cornea and sclera but also the macula.
The macula is a small light-sensitive area in the central part of the retina. It is responsible for the sharpest central vision, which is needed, for example, to recognize faces and to read. Damage to the macula underlies several common diseases that lead to loss of central vision.
According to Reibaldi, a transplant of this part of the retina had never been performed before. The doctor called the operation a new milestone in the development of eye surgery.
After the procedure, doctors confirmed that the transplanted tissues had taken properly and that the patient's vision in her right eye had begun to recover.
Earlier, Kursiv Health reported on tests of artificial eye lenses in space, which were conducted to enable eye surgery on cosmonauts in zero gravity in the future.