Born blind, sees world through ‘Madras eye’

When six-month old Kayla returns to Africa this week, she will be seeing her birthplace in Mozambique for the first time -through the eyes of an Indian. Born blind due to a congenital defect, little Kayla can now see, thanks to an eye donor from Chennai, which has now emerged as a medical hub for African patients, according to Dr Amar Agarwal.

 

 Dr Amar Agarwal with baby Kayla| P Jawahar

“Kayla was born with a condition called micro-opthalmos, where the eyes are very small and shrunken. Her right eye could not be saved, but doctors at Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital in Mozambique realised that her left eye wasn’t fully shrunk, though it had total corneal opacity. The baby was referred to us,” explained Dr Agarwal.

Kayla was prepared for a corneal transplant, and within one week, a suitable donor eye became available. “The deceased donor was around 50 years old, and we had to be careful while transplanting the donor cornea, as the baby’s eye was abnormally small. However, the surgery went well and on the first post-operative day, she opened her eye and started reaching for toys dangled in front of her, much to the joy of her young parents,” said Dr Agarwal.

Noting that 70 per cent of blindness in children was preventable, Dr Agarwal said, “Had the infant been brought here earlier, we may have been able to save her other eye as well. If this eye transplant had been delayed even by a year, it would have been useless, as the eye needs to be constantly stimulated by light. If left unused, it will atrophy,” he explained.

Speaking about his other patient from Africa, Ho yew Sang Louis Desire (54) from Madagascar, Dr Agarwal said, “Louis lost his vision after a blood vessel in his eye burst due to inflammatory disease. His eye was filled with blood, and his retina clogged. We had to surgically remove all blood, identify the bleeding vessel and use laser to stop the bleed.

The kind of expertise that these surgeries require, cannot be found in African countries,” said Dr Agarwal, adding that his Chennai facility receives at least 40 patients from Africa every month.  “While Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital have been set up in Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Mauritius and Seychelles, with one soon coming up in Tanzania, it is not possible to perform complex surgeries abroad due to the shortage of qualified surgeons. Our doctors in these centres refer complicated cases here. They patients receive excellent follow-up care on returning home, “ he added.


Source : New Indian Express , Chennai ( 3rd March 2013 )