Groundbreaking: Surgeons In New York Successfully Perform First-Ever Whole-Eye Transplant

Surgeons in New York revealed on November 9 that they completed the first-ever whole-eye transplant in a person, an achievement hailed as a breakthrough despite the fact that the patient has not regained sight in the eye.

Where did doctors complete the first successful eye transplant?

Reuters

According to the surgical team at NYU Langone Health, the transplanted eye has exhibited crucial signals of health in the six months since the surgery, which was conducted during a partial face transplant, including well-functioning blood vessels and a promising-looking retina.

"The fact that we transplanted an eye is a huge step forward, something that has been thought about for centuries but has never been done," said Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez, who headed the effort, according to a Reuters report.

What used to happen until now?

Until now, physicians could only transplant the cornea or the clear front layer of the eye. Aaron James, 46, is a military veteran from Arkansas who survived a work-related high-voltage electrical accident that ruined the left side of his face, nose, mouth and left eye.

How much time did the whole procedure take?

The transplant procedure lasted 21 hours. Initially, surgeons intended to add the eyeball as a cosmetic component of the face transplant, Rodriguez explained in a Zoom interview. "It would be wonderful if some form of vision restoration occurred, but... the goal was for us to perform the technical operation" and have the eyeball survive, Rodriquez explained.

Reuters

He stated that whatever occurs in the future will be closely followed. The transplanted eye is now not connecting with the brain via the optic nerve. Surgeons extracted adult stem cells from the donor's bone marrow and injected them into the optic nerve during the transplant, hoping that they would replace damaged cells and safeguard the nerve.

What is the future from here?

Even if sight is not restored in this case, Rodriguez believes that transplanting a viable eye globe offers many new possibilities. Other research teams, he said, are working on ways to connect neuronal networks in the brain to sightless eyes, for example, by inserting electrodes.

"If we can work with other scientists that are working on other methods of restoring vision or restoring images to the visual cortex, I think we're one step closer," Rodriguez went on to say.

Reuters

James, who had kept vision in his right eye, was concerned that he might not be able to regain vision in the transplanted eye. "They never expected it to work at all," he claimed, "and they told me that from the start."

"'Even if I can't see, maybe you can all learn something to help the next person,' I told them." "That's how you start," he explained. "Hopefully this opens up a new path." Rodriguez believes James will regain sight in the transplanted eye.

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