The human cornea is known as the window of the eye. An ophthalmic surgeon, based in Chennai, has revolutionised corneal transplantation by breaking conventional practices. Hitherto ophthalmologists were using 600 micron cornea for eye transplantation. Hereafter they can perform the transplantations with just 25 microns of the cornea.
Dr Amar Agarwal (53), an internationally acclaimed ophthalmology professor and chairman of Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital, transplanted the endothelium cornea with Duas layer of a one-year old boy into a 60-year-old man which demolished the belief that corneal endothelium could be harvested only from donors above the age of 50.
But what is unique about Dr Agarwal’s innovation, the first of its kind in the world, is that cornea from a single donor could light up the lives of four persons. The new surgery based on a system known as Pre Descemet’s Endothelial Keratoplasty (PDEK) was developed by Dr Agarwal, following the invention of a sixth layer in the human cornea, by an Indo-UK ophthalmology professor Dr Harminder Singh Dua from University of Nottingham, UK. Prof Dua and his team discovered a sixth layer in the human cornea. “Till last month we were under the belief that there were only five layers in the cornea. But the sixth later, named Dua’s layer is all set to revolutionise the world of ophthalmology as text books may have to be re-written,” Prof Agarwal told The Pioneer.
He pointed out that the hitherto known layers in the cornea when transplanted as a whole can have chances of rejection. “We could remove only endothelial corneal layers from people over 50 because till that age layers are bound really well together reducing the availability of donors. The Dua’s layer is incredibly tough and capable of withstanding pressure. It is easy to manipulate this tissue. Only a minimum portion of the tissue is needed for transplantation which will help us in better success of corneal endothelial transplantation ,” explained Dr Agarwal.
The fact that the corneal endothelium of a one-year old boy is transplanted into the 60 -year old man proves that the receivers eye sight will be as powerful as that of a child. “The PDEK transplantation technology could be performed from the donor eye of any age,” said Dr Agarwal.