| Iris
Reconstructive Intraocular Lens - First in Ohio |
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ANDREA
CAMBERN - 10TV News -
(Watch
video here)
Doctors
have been transplanting corneas for years, but they've never
been able to implant an iris...until now. Last spring, Mtima
Davis was securing a load with a bungee cord when it snapped
and caught his left eye. Co-workers rushed him to Mt. Carmel
East Hospital. Dr.
Richard Erdey was able to save his damaged eye...but he
was blind. Mtima had lost his iris and lens and severely scarred
his cornea. The cornea
provides a clear covering for the eye. The lens
does the focusing, and the iris
(the colored part of the eye), opens and closes the pupil
in response to light. Dr. Erdey knew more surgery would be
required.
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Left
Eye-after emergent repair. Note cornea scar and
total loss of iris |
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He
could replace the cornea with donor tissue and the lens with
a conventional implant. But without the iris, Mtima would see
poorly and be very light sensitive. So Dr. Erdey spent six months
working to obtain special permission from the FDA to implant
an artificial iris, developed by researchers in the Netherlands.
The operation, the first of its kind in Ohio, was a success.
Mtima already has 20/40 vision in his formerly blind eye!
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Right
Eye |
Left
Eye after iris implant and cornea transplant |
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