Made in China ‘last resort’ implant gives hope to eye injury patients
- A Chinese version of a decades-old technology is being adopted in a growing number of hospitals across the country
- An artificial cornea can be the only option in some severe cases, and when the patient’s immune system rejects other transplants
The device has become the last resort for some of Gu’s patients, who cannot tolerate a transplanted human cornea – the usual treatment for injuries to the transparent disc at the eye’s surface, which acts as a barrier while allowing light to enter.
Among cornea specialist Gu’s first patients to try the treatment was a shipyard worker in Guangdong province who initially underwent an emergency double corneal transplant after getting sealant splashed in his eyes, leaving holes in both corneas.
But his body rejected the donated corneal tissue after two years, and a second transplant lasted just six months before the immune system again attacked the foreign graft.
“The patient could hardly see anything or walk by himself. His eye pressure was unstable with cataracts. The chance of sight recovery was very low even if he received another donation transplant,” Gu said.