Top Eye Health Breakthroughs

Recent advances may help many adults retain or regain their vision.

- Kamala Thiagarajan

In September 2013, D. Kumar, 72, a Delhi based retired engineer, ran into complications with the cataract surgery for his right eye. It ended up damaging the cornea. “For the next few months, I experienced great discomfort,” says Kumar, who currently heads a consultancy firm. “Fluids seeped from my eye constantly and I could barely see.” Post surgery, he sought fresh medical opinion and was told that he needed a corneal transplant to save his vision.

After securing a cornea that matched Kumar’s, a surgeon replaced the damaged inner layer of the cornea with a new one, through a procedure called sutureless corneal transplant. “It allows you to transplant single layers of the cornea, restoring vision in a range of cases,” says Dr Rishi Swarup, medical director and chief of cornea services, Swarup Eye Centre, Hyderabad, who performed the surgery. “While previously 16 stitches were required, this is performed with a single suture (and in some cases, without any), hastening the healing process.” Kumar’s recovery was rapid and dramatic. “My surgery was at 3 p.m. and I was allowed to go home the same evening. I could actually see the roads when we drove back from the hospital,” says a thrilled Kumar, who has regained his vision fully. Along with sutureless corneal transplants, laser-guided surgery, intraocular lens implants and injections that can save your vision, a host of other breakthroughs are changing the landscape of ophthalmic treatments.