Medical première in Italy: woman blind for 5 years regains her sight after a world-first transplant

A medical team from Turin, Italy, has performed a world-first procedure: transplanting the central part of the retina, known as the macula, from one eye to another, restoring the sight of a patient who had been blind for five years. The announcement was made by the Molinette hospital in a press release issued on Monday to the AFP news agency, according to the publication 7sur7.be.

The patient, Elena, aged 67, had lost her sight completely following a serious road accident, which caused irreversible damage to the optic nerve in her left eye. As a result, light could no longer be transmitted from the eye to the brain, even though the ocular structures had remained intact, according to the hospital's statement.

The woman's right eye was already affected by a macular condition (maculopathy) and had itself been severely damaged by trauma that had irreparably destroyed the retina and the clarity of the cornea. According to the hospital, the complete destruction of the area containing stem cells made a conventional corneal transplant impossible, leaving the patient with no option but blindness.

This obstacle, previously considered insurmountable, was nonetheless overcome by the team led by Professor Michele Reibaldi. The surgeons made use of the healthy but non-functional tissue from the left eye, removing a complete anatomical block — comprising the cornea, sclera, conjunctiva and, for the first time in the world, the central part of the retina (the macula) — which was then transferred to the right eye.

This "biological transfer", as it is referred to in the statement, enabled the reconstruction of a functional eye using tissue from both of the patient's damaged eyes. Professor Reibaldi said: "We are now waiting to see to what extent the transplanted retina will be able to function, but the initial results are encouraging." The procedure, described as "highly complex", lasted nearly six hours.