Turin surgeons transferred a patient’s own macula from her left eye to her right eye

Turin surgeons transferred a patient’s own macula from her left eye to her right eye

On July 26, Molinette Hospital reported that the procedure had been performed on a 67-year-old woman. The surgeons transferred the cornea, sclera, conjunctiva, and macula from her left eye to her right eye. The macula is the part of the retina responsible for detailed central vision. The operation took almost six hours. The hospital reports that the tissues have taken and that the first signs of visual recovery have appeared.

The woman had been blind for more than five years after a road accident. The optic nerve in her left eye was irreversibly damaged, but the eye’s other tissues remained intact. The optic nerve in her right eye retained its connection to the brain, while the injury damaged the cornea and retina, including the macula.

According to a hospital statement published by Adnkronos, Michele Reibaldi’s team transferred the preserved tissues to the right eye. The surgeons took the preserved tissues from one eye and used the surviving optic nerve in the other. The cornea transmits and focuses light. The macula provides detailed central vision. The retina converts light into electrical signals. The optic nerve in the right eye carries these signals to the brain.

After the operation, the right eye contained all three components required for vision: a transparent cornea, the central part of the retina, and a neural pathway to the brain. This combination allowed the tissues from the left eye to function in the right eye.

Reibaldi says that the doctors are continuing to monitor the function of the transplanted retina. The operation used the patient’s own tissue to repair her other damaged eye.