AFP - Thursday, September 17
MIAMI (AFP) -
– A 60-year-old US grandmother, blind for nearly a decade, has
recovered her sight after surgeons implanted a tooth in her eye as
a base to hold a tiny plastic lens, her doctors
said.
Sharron "Kay" Thornton, from the southern US state of
Mississippi, lost her sight in 2000 when she came down with a case
of Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a rare disease that scarred her
cornea, according to the University of Miami's Bascom Palmer Eye
Institute.
For patients whose bodies reject a transplanted or artificial
cornea, this procedure "implants the patient's tooth in the eye to
anchor a prosthetic lens and restore vision," said Thornton's
surgeon Victor Perez.
In the procedure -- which was pioneered in Italy but was a first
in the United States -- the medical team extracted Thornton's
canine or "eyetooth" and surrounding bone, shaved and sculpted it,
and drilled a hole into it to insert an optical cylinder lens.
"We take sight for granted, not realizing that it can be lost at
any moment," the grateful patient said. "This truly is a
miracle."
She said people should imagine what it is like "if you could
keep your eyes closed just for one week... it's amazing what you
see when you open your eyes again."
The tooth and the lens were implanted under the patient's skin
in the cheek or shoulder for two months so they could bond, then
they were carefully implanted in the center of the eye after a
series of procedures to prepare the socket.
"A hole is made in the mucosa for the prosthetic lens, which
protrudes slightly from the eye and enables light to re-enter the
eye allowing the patient to see once again," read an Eye Institute
statement.
Following a series of operations, medical personnel removed the
bandages from Thornton's eyes two weeks ago.
She was able to recognize objects and faces a few hours later,
and two weeks later she was able to read newspapers, the Eye
Institute said.
"I'm looking forward to seeing my seven youngest grandchildren
for the first time," said Thornton.
"Through the work of (the) team, patients in the United States
now have access to this complex surgical technique, which has been
available only in a limited number of centers in Europe and Asia,"
said Eduardo Alfonso, chairman of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute.