World First: Eye Surgery Restores Vision After Five Years of Blindness

In a medical milestone, surgeons have successfully restored sight to a 67-year-old woman, Elena, who had been completely blind for over five years. The revolutionary procedure, performed at the Molinette Hospital in Turin, involved a complex autograft, transplanting not only the anterior segment of the eye but also the central retina, or macula, from one eye to the other. This marks the first time globally that the macula has been successfully transplanted in such a procedure.

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So far, the simultaneous transplantation of the anterior segment had been performed only once in the world by Professor Vincenzo Sarnicola and myself, here at Molinette. It had never been possible to transplant the central part of the retina.

Elena lost her sight due to a severe car accident that caused irreversible damage to her left optic nerve. While her ocular structures remained healthy, the nerve's inability to transmit light to the brain rendered her blind. Her right eye, already affected by maculopathy, suffered trauma that irreparably damaged the retina and cornea. The complete destruction of the stem cell-containing portion of her right eye made conventional corneal transplants impossible, condemning her to blindness.

Overcoming what has been considered an insurmountable international obstacle, Professor Michele Reibaldi and his team devised an innovative solution. They utilized healthy but non-functional tissues from Elena's left eye, transplanting an entire anatomical block, including the cornea, sclera, conjunctiva, and the central retina, into her right eye. This biological relocation effectively reconstructed a functional eye from two compromised ones.

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This intervention represents a new frontier in ophthalmology. Now we wait to see how well the transplanted retina functions, but the initial results are encouraging.

The surgery, a marathon of nearly six hours, required extraordinary collaboration among ophthalmologists, anesthesiologists, nurses, and the hospital's management. The emotional reward came when Elena, upon regaining consciousness, could finally recognize the faces of her son and her beloved guide dog, Joe. The hospital even permitted Joe to stay with Elena throughout her recovery, acknowledging the profound bond between them. Clinical checks confirm the successful integration of the transplanted tissues and a progressive functional recovery, offering a beacon of hope for patients with previously untreatable severe eye conditions.

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A surgical marathon of great complexity, lasting almost six hours, which was only possible thanks to extraordinary collaboration between ophthalmologists, anesthesiologists, nurses, and the Health Directorate. But the greatest prize for all of us was the incredible moment when Elena, reopening her eyes, could finally recognize the faces of her son and her trusted life companion Joe.