Over the previous 58 years, the Nationwide Eye Financial institution on the RP Centre has acquired 32,000 cornea donations.
Because of cutting-edge expertise and a devoted crew of specialists, one cornea can now be transplanted to profit three separate sufferers.
In a outstanding improvement on the RP Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, AIIMS New Delhi, a single eye donation is now enabling imaginative and prescient restoration for as much as six eyes (three pairs). This groundbreaking development in customised corneal transplantation highlights the facility of contemporary medical expertise and experience.
Historically, eye donations have been essential in restoring sight to people affected by imaginative and prescient loss. Nonetheless, at AIIMS’s RP Centre, progressive strategies are revolutionising this course of. Because of cutting-edge expertise and a devoted crew of specialists, one cornea can now be transplanted to profit three separate sufferers.
In alignment with Nationwide Eye Donation Fortnight, a nationwide marketing campaign geared toward boosting cornea donations to fight blindness, the RP Centre is main the way in which on this transformative method. Professor Dr Radhika Tandon and Dr Tushar Agarwal from AIIMS emphasise that corneal tissue, an important part of the attention, will be efficiently transplanted from donors to sufferers in want. Since eye donations can solely happen posthumously, there’s a essential have to encourage extra folks to think about this life-changing present.
This new approach, which permits one cornea to serve a number of sufferers, provides hope and vital aid to these battling blindness. The RP Centre’s pioneering work represents a serious leap ahead in ophthalmic science and affected person care.
What’s a Customised Corneal Transplant?
A personalized corneal transplant is a process the place solely the diseased layer of the cornea is changed, somewhat than the complete cornea. When a affected person has a situation affecting a selected layer of their cornea, this layer is eliminated and changed with an identical layer from a donor cornea.
Advantages of a Customised Corneal Transplant
On the RP Centre of AIIMS, the idea of a ‘single donor, a number of recipients’ is being employed. This system maximises using donor tissue. The donor cornea is split into its six distinct layers, permitting completely different layers for use for various sufferers. In consequence, one cornea can doubtlessly profit a number of people. Moreover, by changing solely the affected layer somewhat than the entire cornea, the restoration time for sufferers is considerably diminished, resulting in faster therapeutic.
AIIMS Achieves Document in Corneal Transplants
Over the previous 58 years, the Nationwide Eye Financial institution on the RP Centre has acquired 32,000 cornea donations, with 23,000 sufferers having had their sight restored by means of these transplants. This yr alone, 2,000 corneas have been donated, marking the best quantity prior to now three years following the disruptions brought on by COVID-19. Traditionally, AIIMS RP Centre has performed round 1,000 corneal transplant surgical procedures yearly, however within the 2023-24 interval, a report 1,703 corneal transplants have been carried out.
Nationwide Eye Financial institution Growing a Community
Dr Radhika Tandon introduced that AIIMS’ Nationwide Eye Financial institution is establishing a community to boost cornea assortment by integrating all authorities hospitals throughout Delhi-NCR. This initiative additionally consists of preparations to make sure corneal tissue is effectively transported to surgeons.
Encouraging Cornea Donations
Dr Tandon and Dr Tushar Agarwal emphasise that there isn’t any age restriction for eye donation. Corneas will be donated by anybody from younger kids to people as much as 99 years previous. Public consciousness is essential for this trigger. Within the occasion of a pure demise or a demise throughout hospital therapy, households can contact the attention financial institution or the closest hospital to facilitate cornea donation.
