eye transplant

[SherylB]

Is it possible to transplant an entire eyeball?  I recently returned from a missions trip to Peru where I met a baby who had both of her eyeballs removed due to "cancer" in her eyes.  (Never heard of this before!)  I was told the optic nerve is in tact.  I have never heard whether a total eyeball transplant is even medically possible, but thought I would do some research to find out.  This baby stole my heart and I would love to try to get her some help.

[satishkrghai]

My wife is of age 56 years and is  a patient of diabetic for last 7 years. Her sugar level is control from the medicines for last 2-3 years. During last year, it was observed that the vision of her eye is about 30%. She told that the vision of her right is poor since her school days. However she can read and write clearly without lense but she uses lenses for farther sight.
During 2011, she got irritation  in the right eyes and then we immediately  cosulted eye specilist who confirmed us that there was no impact of diabetic in her eyes. But when during  2012(July 12) we consulted another eye specilist who diagnosed swelling in the right eyes and confirmed the impact of the diabetic in the eyes. He applied avastin injection in the eyes three times since then.

The concerned warned us to keep sugar control and keep regular treatment. We have been informed that only treatment is the application of the injection avastin.

Please inform whether any other treatment or sugery is there to cure permanently. If such kind of the patients loss the vision, pl inform whether vision loss can be brought back through transplant or any other surgery.

Satish

[leeboy007007]

Hay my father is 55 years old and about 7 years ago we had some trouble whilst out and he had a pint glass smashed in his eye and head banged off a wall witch shocked his pupil so its always big and it also detached his retina he has had numerous ops on it and is blind in this eye now and they say its to scared on both parts to ever work .. Is there anything that can be done even if its just a eyeball that don't work but looks normal ? .. Many thanks lee

[Suganya878]

Hi dr,

I am from INDIA, is there any treatment available for optic nerve hypoplasia. Stem cell treatment would really help ?

[parkash_goswami]

Dear Mr. John,
                       I am form india, in 2007 my brothers left eye is  hit by cracker due to this his eye ball get  sinked, his right eye is completely fine is there any way to treat his eye.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

First of all retinoblastoma is a potentially fatal disease that often occurs in both eyes. The important thing is to save the child's life and protect the "good" (other) eye. How well the bad eye with the tumor will see if guarded. Sometimes the eye has to be removed. If the tumor is in a bad place (saw over the macula) then even with radiation treatment the eye will not see well. THere is no need to come to the USA as everything the child needs can be found in the UK.

Good luck.

JCH MD

[marbin]

Dear Mr. John,
                          I am from UK. Today dr. here confirmed that my son has got retioblastoma and his right eyes is mostly affected. His Brain, Nurves and left eyes is okay and the tumar is covered more than 50% of right side Eye ball.

Do you have any optimal idea to save my sons right eye vission? As you said earlier that full eye ball transplant is not possible but will that 50% tumar can be removed successfully and if i come to US how much will it cost roughly?

I am waiting for your kind reply.

A helpless father.
***@****    

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

You don't state where you live. IN the USA states have agencies and organizations that work with the blind and visually handicapped.

JCHMD

[yesenia0525]

I have a question for you doctor...my brother is blind (not totally blind but his vision is minimum) and doctors had told us that his problem is a birth problem.  I want to help him so that he can see well enough to work and be independent...that's what he wants.  I want to know if that would be possible.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

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[AnnaE]

The child is fortunate to have your help. What a wonderful project.Give us an update, if possible.

[SherylB]

Thank you, Dr. Hagen, for responding.  I plan to contact the people in Peru to ask them some questions based on the information you gave me.  Hopefully I can find someone who knows this information.  The family is very poor and has little education and means.   If they don't know the answers or don't know how to get them, I will be going back to Peru in August and will do some investigating into her case myself.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Hopefully who ever removed the eyes put in a sphere under the tissues to save the space the eye was in and a lid conformer that saves space for a prosthetic eye. If a lid conformer was not put in then there will be no space to put a cosmetic prosthetic eye.

You will need to discuss this with whomever is taking care of the child. As the child gets older the conformers are increased in size.

At her age a cosmetic eye could probably be fitted soon. (the eye does not grow proportionally as much as the rest of the body.)

JCH III MD

[SherylB]

Thank you, Dr. Hagen for responding to my query.  I am deeply disappointed that the possibility doesn't exist for giving this precious baby back her eyesight.  My focus will now shift to trying to help her get prosthetic eyes to help with her appearance.  I also believe (in my "untrained opinion") that prosthetic eyes will also serve to decrease the risk of infection due to the eye tissue being exposed when she raises her eyelids and  also help with muscle tone loss in the eyelids and around the eye openings.  Is this type of medical procedure possible for babies (she's about 15 months old) and if so, do the prosthetics have to be adjusted to accommodate growth of the child?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

No an entire eyeball cannot be implanted. The problems are same as for the severed spinal chord, the central nervous system nerves (unlike peripheral nerves) do not "grow back" that is why hands can be sewed back on when cut off but spinal chords and eyeballs will not regrow.

JCH III MD