{"id":766,"date":"2024-06-04T12:05:40","date_gmt":"2024-06-04T12:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/04\/englands-first-artificial-cornea-transplant-hailed-a-success\/"},"modified":"2024-06-04T12:05:40","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T12:05:40","slug":"englands-first-artificial-cornea-transplant-hailed-a-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/04\/englands-first-artificial-cornea-transplant-hailed-a-success\/","title":{"rendered":"England\u2019s first artificial cornea transplant hailed a success"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A 91-year-old man has become the first person in England to be fitted with a ground-breaking artificial cornea.<\/p>\n

Cecil \u2018John\u2019 Farley, 91, said his sight was now improving thanks to the procedure, which he underwent after 15 years of suffering from problems with his eyes.<\/p>\n

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The cornea is the clear outer layer at the front of the eyeball \u2013 and is described by the NHS as the \u201cwindow to the eye\u201d.<\/p>\n

A person can suffer from vision problems and pain if the thin transparent covering is damaged by disease or injury<\/strong> \u2013 with those affected often left facing a long wait for a human transplant.<\/p>\n

However, it is hoped that the artificial device, called EndoArt, will slash waiting times<\/strong>, ease pressure on the NHS and eliminate the risk of the human body rejecting corneas received from an organ donor.<\/p>\n

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Mr Farley, from Chobham in Surrey, said he was overjoyed by the transplant \u2013 in his right eye \u2013 because it meant he could continue to see his 83-year-old wife Elizabeth.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI can still see my wife after 63 years of marriage, we can just carry on as normal and live life as fully as we can.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes your life fuller when your eyes work properly \u2013 you don\u2019t realise how debilitating it is until it happens to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the surgery, Mr Farley had no vision in his right eye \u2013 but his sight has slowly been improving ever since the procedure in February.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIt has made a great difference to my sight. It was very blurred and I couldn\u2019t distinguish a face.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I can see better with it, the brighter the light the better. It\u2019s coming along slowly \u2013 they said it could take up to a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The artificial cornea has been compared to a contact lens. The device, which replaces the inner part of the cornea, is surgically attached to the eye by a single stitch and is put in place with a gas bubble.<\/p>\n

Only 200 people worldwide, including Mr Farley, have been fitted with an EndoArt so far, but there are hopes it can be more widely rolled out.<\/p>\n

Organic cornea transplants usually come from deceased donors. A total of 4,719 were donated to the NHS <\/strong>in 2022\/23, according to the latest available figures.<\/p>\n

Consultant ophthalmologist Thomas Poole, from Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust in Surrey, which carried out the procedure, described the artificial cornea as a \u201cgreat advancement\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said there had been fears that Mr Farley was \u201ckind of getting to [his] last hope\u201d after a previous human transplant failed.<\/p>\n

Mr Poole said: \u201cI had a very frank discussion with him before and I said: \u2018Look, your graft has failed, you\u2019re back on the waiting list. Because your other eye sees quite well, you\u2019re not a high priority on the waiting list and you could be waiting for another year\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s in his 90s now and said \u2018I just can\u2019t wait that long. Is there anything else?\u2019 And so this sprung to mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had just read a publication on very good reports from this artificial graft and it was that that made me think actually, maybe we could use this for John.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Poole and his colleague Hanbin Lee have now successfully given four patients artificial corneas in the last two months and the initial results have shown an improvement in vision.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cLooking forward to the future, I think this may end up replacing human corneas for certain types of corneal graft patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn maybe 10 or 20 years\u2019 time \u2013 this may become the norm where we don\u2019t need a human cornea, and we can just take one out of the box.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Farley, a former flooring company owner, said that once his sight is restored he hopes to do practical tasks like repairing a watch.<\/p>\n

However, for now, he is content \u201cpottering about\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on sky.com<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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