Bhopal’s BMHRC Achieves Rare Dual Transplant Success: One Cornea Gives Vision To Two Patients

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Cornea transplant center of Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Center (BMHRC) restored the eyesight of two different patients using donor corneas (eye tissue) sent by an eye bank in Kerala.

Two patients’ eyesight was restored using two different parts of the same cornea.

In this process, a part of the cornea was successfully transplanted to a patient in a private hospital in Bhopal, while the other part was used to give vision to a 66-year-old gas-infected patient at BMHRC.

The patient had already undergone a failed cataract operation in one eye, due to which he had lost his vision. He was suffering from a condition called corneal endothelial failure. In this disease, the innermost layer of the eye stops working properly and things start appearing blurry.

This is a modern microsurgery technique in which only the damaged endothelial layer is removed and a healthy donor layer is implanted. There is no need for stitches in this procedure, and the patient's vision returns quickly. The cornea has two major layers — the stroma (middle layer) and the endothelium (inner layer).

Through advanced microsurgery techniques, these two layers can be separated and used for patients. However, for this, the quality of the donor tissue should be appropriate, and the problems and needs of both patients should be different.

Director, BMHRC Dr. Manisha Shrivastava said: “This achievement is a testament to the medical skills and dedication of BMHRC. With the help of awareness and modern techniques related to eye donation, now one donor can change two lives. We appeal to the citizens to embrace eye donation and become a part of brightening the world of others.”