Three sufferers are set to endure Canada’s first “tooth-in-eye” surgical procedures at Vancouver’s Mount Saint Joseph Hospital this week, aiming to revive their imaginative and prescient. This uncommon process, medically often known as osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis (OOKP), entails implanting a tooth with an optical lens into the attention to interchange broken corneal tissue.
The hospital acknowledged Monday on its official information web site, The Each day Scan, that the process is appropriate for sure sufferers with extreme corneal blindness attributable to scarring, autoimmune illnesses, chemical burns, or different trauma—instances the place conventional corneal transplants have failed.
The primary affected person, Gail Lane, 74, from Victoria, misplaced her sight a decade in the past because of Stevens-Johnson syndrome, an autoimmune dysfunction triggered by anti-seizure medicine. Her surgical procedure is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 26.
Gail informed the Vancouver Solar she has no thought how her companion of eight years appears like.
“I’ve by no means seen Phil. And I’ve pals who’re extra newly acquired who I’ve by no means seen,” stated Lane.
The second affected person, Brent Chapman, 33, from North Vancouver, misplaced his sight at 13 after a extreme response to ibuprofen. Regardless of present process 12 corneal transplants over 20 years—together with procedures utilizing stem-cell tissue from his mother and father’ eyes—his imaginative and prescient has not been restored. Chapman’s process is scheduled for Thursday.
He described the upcoming surgical procedure to CTV Information as “completely mind-blowing.”
A tooth incorporates dentin, which is the perfect tissue to deal with a plastic lens with out the physique rejecting it
Dr. Greg Moloney, an ophthalmologist and surgeon
Meet the docs behind the procedures
Dr. Greg Moloney, an ophthalmologist and surgeon recruited from Australia in 2021, will lead the surgical group. He has beforehand carried out about seven OOKP surgical procedures in Australia.
However why enamel?
“A tooth incorporates dentin, which is the perfect tissue to deal with a plastic lens with out the physique rejecting it, “Dr. Moloney defined to The Each day Scan.
Helping within the surgical procedures is Dr. Shannon Webber, an oral-maxillofacial surgeon who traveled from Australia to coach native surgeon Dr. Ben Kang of Vancouver Normal Hospital. This collaboration goals to ascertain the experience regionally, enabling extra Canadian sufferers to learn from the process.
The OOKP surgical procedure is carried out in two levels. First, a tooth is extracted, fitted with a plastic lens, and implanted into the affected person’s cheek to permit tissue integration. After a number of months, the tooth-lens complicated is transplanted into the attention, changing the broken cornea and restoring imaginative and prescient.
This groundbreaking process provides hope to sufferers with extreme corneal blindness unresponsive to conventional remedies.