Over the previous 58 years, the RP Centre’s Nationwide Eye Financial institution has acquired 32,000 cornea donations.
Because of cutting-edge know-how and a devoted crew of consultants, one cornea can now be transplanted to profit three totally different sufferers.
In a exceptional 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 customized corneal transplantation highlights the facility of contemporary medical know-how and experience.
Historically, eye donations have been essential in restoring imaginative and prescient to people affected by imaginative and prescient loss. Nonetheless, on the RP Centre at AIIMS, revolutionary methods are revolutionizing this course of. Because of cutting-edge know-how and a devoted crew of consultants, one cornea can now be transplanted to profit three separate sufferers.
In alignment with the Nationwide Eye Donation Fortnight, a nationwide marketing campaign that goals to spice up cornea donations to fight blindness, the RP Centre is main the best way on this transformative strategy. Professor Dr Radhika Tandon and Dr Tushar Agarwal from AIIMS emphasise that corneal tissue, a significant part of the attention, may be efficiently transplanted from donors to sufferers in want. Since eye donations can solely happen posthumously, there’s a essential have to encourage extra individuals to think about this life-changing present.
This new approach, which permits one cornea to serve a number of sufferers, gives hope and vital aid to these battling blindness. The RP Centre’s pioneering work represents a significant leap ahead in ophthalmic science and affected person care.
What’s a customized cornea transplant?
A customized cornea transplant is a process through which solely the diseased layer of the cornea is changed, somewhat than all the cornea. When a affected person has a situation that impacts a particular layer of their cornea, that layer is eliminated and changed with an identical layer from a donor cornea.
Advantages of a Customized Corneal Transplant
On the RP Centre at AIIMS, the idea of ‘single donor, a number of recipients’ is being employed. This system maximises the usage of donor tissue. The donor cornea is split into its six distinct layers, permitting totally different layers for use for various sufferers. Because of this, one cornea can doubtlessly profit a number of people. Moreover, by changing solely the affected layer somewhat than all the cornea, the restoration time for sufferers is considerably diminished, resulting in quicker therapeutic.
AIIMS achieves report in cornea transplants
Over the previous 58 years, the Nationwide Eye Financial institution at RP Centre has acquired 32,000 cornea donations, with 23,000 sufferers having their imaginative and prescient restored by these transplants. This 12 months alone, 2,000 corneas have been donated, marking the very best quantity within the final three years following the disruptions attributable to COVID-19. Traditionally, AIIMS RP Centre has carried out round 1,000 corneal transplant surgical procedures yearly, however within the interval 2023-24, a report 1,703 corneal transplants had been carried out.
Nationwide Eye Financial institution Growing a Community
Dr Radhika Tandon introduced that the Nationwide Eye Financial institution at AIIMS is establishing a community to boost corneal assortment by integrating all authorities hospitals in Delhi-NCR. This initiative additionally contains preparations to make sure that corneal tissue is transported effectively to surgeons.
Encouraging cornea donations
Dr. Tandon and Dr. Tushar Agarwal emphasize that there isn’t a age restriction for eye donation. Corneas may be donated by anybody, from younger kids to people as outdated as 99 years. Public consciousness is essential for this trigger. In case of pure dying or dying throughout hospital remedy, households can contact the closest eye financial institution or hospital to facilitate cornea donation.
