Shija conducts first ever 'Corneal Transplant'
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, May 05 2016: In a remarkable milestone for eye care service in the State, Shija Eye Care Foundation �a unit of Shija Hospitals and Research Institute, has conducted three successful 'corneal transplant' surgeries in the hospital.

Announcing the success of first ever corneal transplantation, MD of Shija Hospital Dr Palin said that Shija Eye Care Foundation after being granted the certificate of registration under Section 14 and 15 of the Transplantation of the Human Organs (Amendment) Act 2011 for Cornea Transplantation on April 22, 2016 by the Directorate of Health Services, Govt of Manipur, conducted three successful corneal transplant surgery.

On April 30, two patients underwent corneal transplant surgery after receiving tissue sourced from different Eye Banks of India through the Corneal Distribution System (CDS).

The first patient was diagnosed with left eye vascularised corneal opacity and the second with left eye perforated corneal ulcer.

The third patient who had irreversible blindness in the left eye and his only functional right eye was diagnosed with perforated corneal ulcer and underwent corneal transplant surgery with cataract removal for right eye on May 4, Dr Palin added while addressing media at the auditorium of Shija Hospitals.

It is a significant milestone for the State as such surgery can now be conducted at Shija Eye Care Foundation.

He showed his appreciation to the Director, Directorate of Health Services for granting certificate of registration understanding the need of the people and taking the step proactively.

The corneal transplant surgery was conducted by a team of Opthalmologist led by Dr Sachindra Laishram of Shija Eye Care Foundation.

Dr Sachindra stated that corneal transplant is an operation to remove all or part of the damaged cornea and replace it with a healthy donor cornea.

The surgery is helpful to improve sight, relieve pain and treat severe infection or damage and retain the integrity of the eye ball.

He added that health tissue for cornea surgery is acquired through CDS which is under the Eye Bank Association of India (EBAI) and Sightlife.

Corneal blindness is caused due to number of reasons and some of them are infection, post eye surgery, trauma from accidents, congenital diseases etc.

When asked about the cost, Dr Palin claimed that the cost ranges from Rs 15,000 to 25,000.Further he added that the Shija Eye Care Foundation aims to institute an Eye Bank in the coming years.

Meanwhile, surgeon Dr Jugindro also expressed his gratitude toward the Directorate of Health Services for granting certificate of registration to conduct such organ transplantation surgery.

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