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Search results for "tencel"
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found from year 2005
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| Monday, 19 December 2005 11:12 | | BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk |
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Corneal transplants could become a thing of the past after a British surgeon used a pioneering operation to restore the sight of a blind woman.
Jennifer Matchim, 64, lost her sight due to cumulative eye problems but within days of undergoing the new procedure she was able to read to the bottom of an eye chart without glasses.
"One day I was blind and the next I could see. It was so sudden I could hardly believe it. My life has been transformed," Mrs Matcham of Liphook, Surrey, said.
The technique, developed by Michael Tappin, consultant ophthalmologist at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, is a refined version of the traditional corneal transplant.
Instead of taking the transparent surface of the eye from a donor and stitching it into the eye of the patient, the new method requires only the endothelial cells from the innermost layer of the cornea to be scraped off and transplanted, eliminating stitching and reducing recovery time and the chances of distorted vision.
Endothelial cells pump water out of the cornea but if they become damaged, the cornea becomes waterlogged and cloudy. In future, doctors hope to grow replacement endothelial cells in the laboratory, eliminating the need for donors.
Mr Tappin said: "There are two problems with corneal transplants - distortion [because of the thickness of the transplanted cornea that has to be stitched in place] and rejection. This technique should overcome both. It is very exciting."
Of 15 operations carried out, nine had been successful, he said. It is called the TenCell treatment - true endothelial cell transplant. "The great thing with this technique is you burn no boats. You can repeat the procedure or do a traditional graft [corneal transplant]".
Eyes are among the rarest organs available for transplant because relatives are often reluctant to donate them as they are a visible and integral part of the dead person’s face.
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