SINGAPORE: Patients suffering from ageing corneas can benefit from a new form of corneal transplantation in Singapore.Descemets Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty (DMEK) is an advanced keyhole form of transplant that claims to result in almost perfect vision.
For many years, 59-year-old Chok Teck Chow's eyesight has been deteriorating.
But now, the property agent said his vision has improved greatly, as he is able to read nearly the entire eye chart.
Chok is one of only three patients who underwent the DMEK surgery about a month ago to treat his ageing cornea.
"Vision improved very much. I can see quite clearly, it's almost perfect," said Chok.
Professor Donald Tan, Medical Director of the Singapore National Eye Centre, said "DMEK is a different procedure where we are just stripping off the membrane, we're just transplanting a membrane with cells. When we peel this membrane off, we got to get it into the eye and not damage it because the moment we touch the membrane with the cells, the cells die.
"So the surgical technique on how to un-scroll the membrane, un-wrinkle it, attach it to the cornea is where the skill comes in."
The Singapore National Eye Centre has also invented a new device, which is currently under patenting, to make the DMEK surgery easier.
As the device is currently under patenting, details can't be revealed.
When asked how the corneal transplant surgery compares to artificial cornea transplants such as the Boston K-Pro, the centre had some reservations.
The Singapore National Eye Centre sees some controversies regarding the long-term success rate of the Boston K-Pro surgery, saying it potentially has some high risk complications. It recommends that the procedure be used only in cases of multiple corneal graft failures.
The eye centre said the risk of graft rejection from a DMEK surgery is 0.7 per cent.
The new procedure is expected to be performed on more patients once the new device is launched next year.
- CNA /ls
Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
New transplant method for ageing cornea patients
No comments:
Post a Comment