[Warm News]
Tianshan Net-Xinjiang Daily reporter Su Luping
“If there is no great love from the donor’s family, without your help, It is impossible for me to return to a normal life.” On April 7, in the ophthalmology clinic of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, one month after receiving corneal transplantation, the patient Fang Hua reiterated to the corneal transplantation team of the First Affiliated Hospital of New Medical University during the review. grateful.
In 2021, when Fang Hua was doing farm work, caustic soda accidentally entered his right eye, causing severe vision loss and abnormal appearance of the right eye. The only solution was corneal transplantation.
On February 24 this year, the corneal transplant team led by Yi Xianglong, deputy director of the Department of Ophthalmology of the First Affiliated Hospital of New Medical University, received a notification from the hospital’s organ donation coordinator that a patient was ineffective due to sudden cerebral hemorrhage. The patient’s family donated the patient’s liver, kidney and cornea of both eyes. The team immediately divided the labor and cooperated to conduct preoperative evaluation of the donor’s corneas, and immediately notified Fang Hua and another patient, Lin Li, to prepare for corneal transplantation.
In the early morning of February 25, the cornea transplant team obtained a pair of donated corneas for the first time. In order to achieve the best effect of transplantation, Yi Xianglong actively coordinated and communicated with relevant departments to minimize the time for the donor cornea to be isolated from the body. At 18:00 that day, the team successfully performed penetrating keratoplasty on Lin Li’s right eye.
Fang Hua was transferred from Dizhou to Urumqi. After arriving at the emergency trauma center of the hospital to complete the examination, it was 3:00 a.m. on February 26, nearly 16 hours before the donor cornea was obtained. Although the timing of corneal transplantation is within 48 hours after obtaining the donor, in order to ensure the donor’s corneal activity as much as possible, the corneal transplantation team, with the active cooperation of the anesthesiology department and the operating room, performed corneal transplantation for Fang Hua overnight.
Because Fang Hua’s eyes were burned by caustic soda, the cornea was covered with a large number of neovascular membranes. At the same time, the stem cells around the cornea were also destroyed. With conventional transplant methods, the possibility of postoperative rejection was as high as 50%.
For this reason, Yi Xianglong decided to use an unconventional full-deep lamellar keratoplasty with limbal stem cells. Under the operating microscope, Yi Xianglong carefully peeled off the lesions on Fang Hua’s cornea layer by layer until it was completely removed, while retaining his deep healthy and transparent cornea. Subsequently, the donor cornea with the limbal stem cells preserved was sutured in careful alignment with sutures thinner than a human hair. The operation was successfully completed 3 hours later.
Under the careful care of the medical staff, Lin Li was discharged 3 days after the operation, and Fang Hua was discharged one week after the operation. Recently, in the routine review one month after the operation, both of them recovered well.
[Editor’s Comment] Go all out to make life have an appointment
Having a pair of bright eyes is the dream of all blind people. Every corneal transplant is a gift of light.
The two people in the article can regain the light, and the hard work and selfless dedication of this little-known corneal transplant team is inseparable. Every persistence is shining with the brilliance of humanity, and every effort is a respect and awe for life.
In the world, there is a great love that can transcend all. There is also an unnamed donor in this article who donated liver, kidney and corneas of both eyes, organs that can help more people. The donor’s act of great love is his love and reverence for life, which makes people move. This noble moral sentiment is worthy of everyone’s learning and respect.
Donors are the source of light, and the corneal transplant team is the transmitter of light. Organ donation, saving lives, is the mutual help between people. In addition to being touched, I hope that more people can join the ranks of organ donation, so that life can have an appointment and love can last forever. (Jiang Lan)