A team of surgeons in New York have performed the first in the world whole eye transplant in a procedure that is widely hailed as breakthrough in medicinealthough it is not yet known whether the recipient will actually regain their sight.
The groundbreaking operation includes removal of part of the face and the entire left eye of a donor and the grafting to a man from Arkansas. Worker by profession, in June 2021 he experiences a 7200 volt electric shockwhen his face touched a live wire.
Aaron James, 46, suffered massive injuries. He loses his left eye, one hand, his nose and lips, his front teeththe area of the left cheek and chin.
The man was referred to NYU Langone Health, a leading medical center for face transplants, which performed the procedure on May 27.
Whole eye transplants have been around for a long time the holy grail of medical science and although researchers have had some success in mice – where they have partially restored vision – this has never been done in a living human before.
“We always talk about a second chance in life – i.eoy got a second chance” said Eduardo Rodríguez, who oversaw the 21-hour operation, which used 3D cutting tools that allowed surgeons to remove segments of the donor’s bones and place them precisely in James’ body.
“We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect patient,” he added, praising James for undergoing the extremely risky operation so that others in his situation could benefit in the future.
The transplanted left eye looks very healthy, says ophthalmologist Vaidehi Dedania. It’s well supplied with blood, maintaining its pressure and generating an electrical signal, even though James still can’t see. “But we have great hope,” she added.
James, whose right eye remains intact, was considered an ideal candidate because his need for a face transplant meant he would still need immunosuppressive drugs, making the risk-benefit calculation favorable – even if he only had cosmetic value.
During a press conference, the patient expressed his deep gratitude as to the donor’s family as well as to his medical team. “It was a test of will, strength, family, friends and I think we got through it,” he said.
Given the time that has passed since the surgery, Washington said she doesn’t think it’s likely that James’ eye will regain vision, but “I’m never saying anything is impossible,” she added.
The NYU Langone team said it used adult stem cellsderived from bone marrow to help the nerve recover.
Achieving the goal of restoring vision could involve applying other cutting-edge approaches, Washington said — including gene therapy to harness the optic nerve’s intrinsic ability to heal itself; using a device called a nerve sheath to protect the tissue; or using devices that pick up the signals and bypass the damaged path.
These additional therapies will allow the donor eye to connect significantly with the brain and restore significant visual function to blind patients around the world.
2023-11-09 19:19:00
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