Dominican hospital performs first corneal transplant

The Salvador Bienvenido Gautier Hospital has achieved a significant milestone by successfully performing its first corneal transplant. The procedure was conducted on a patient over 60 years old who had experienced vision loss in both eyes following complications from cataract surgeries.

Dr. Judith Portorreal, the lead surgeon, explained that the surgery involved removing the damaged cornea and implanting a donated tissue. The patient's body must accept the new cornea for vision to be restored, a process that can take between one month and a year. A second transplant will be necessary for the patient's other eye once vision is achieved from the first operation.

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We remove the damaged cornea, place the new one, and wait for the patient's body to accept it, so that the normal anatomy of the eye can be restructured and full vision recovered. This takes from one month to a year.

The donated corneal tissue was obtained from a cornea bank in the United States. The surgical intervention itself lasted no more than an hour. Dr. Portorreal noted that potential complications include issues during surgery or the patient's body rejecting the transplanted tissue.

Recovery from a corneal transplant is a lengthy process requiring dedication from medical staff, the patient, and their family. The medical team involved in this groundbreaking surgery included resident doctors Héctor Castillo, Richard Valenzuela, Carolina Jiminián, Juan Salvador Genao, and Alexandra Estrella, with Dr. Francisco Ramos, head of the Ophthalmology Service, coordinating the procedure.

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The president has an interest in being accountable. That has always been his interest, to be accountable to the population, to be accountable to the country for the management, and that they are public officials. And that is why it will be this style for the time being.