For the first time in Israel, and a rarity in the world in general, a partial corneal transplant was performed on a 9-month old baby last week. The child was born with a rare cornea disease that caused cloudiness in the cornea and extremely poor vision. He was only diagnosed at 5-months old, a delayed diagnosis, and as a result has had consistent problems eating. Yossi suffered developmental delays for his age and required a feeding tube. When he was 3-months old, Yossi could not look at light, his parents, from Kiryat Gat, explained. He would look down and avoid making eye contact. He preferred to be in the dark and we could only feed him when he was lying on his stomach. In addition, he was restless and in pain, crying a lot. Yossi has been under the joint care of the Schneider Childrens Medical Center and the Cornea Service at the Beilinson Hospital Ophthalmology Division. Dr. Irit Bahar, a senior physician in the Beilinson Ophthalmology Department, has been Yossis doctor since his diagnosis and recommended the corneal transplant in both eyes using a new method. Dr. Bahar explained that usually corneal transplants are performed for the entire thickness of the cornea, exchanging approximately 0.5mm of the corneal tissue. Yossis transplant, however, was only a partial tissue transplant, exchanging tissue approximately 50 microns (0.05mm) thick. It is a very modern transplant technique, Dr. Bahar explained. Most of the trials in the world have been performed on older patients. Dr. David Rothman, a world renowned specialist in corneal transplants of this type in children, was invited from Canada to perform this rare surgical procedure in Israel. Dr. Rootman accepted the challenge, and Dr. Bahar assisted him during surgery.
The surgery took place 10 days ago and was very successful. Yossis vision has improved significantly and his behavior has changed beyond recognition. He has already gained weight and his development has returned to being on par for his age.
We are so thankful to the doctors, said Yossis father, Menahem. Yossi has quickly become himself. He looks around and smiles; it makes us very happy that he is developing now like other kids his age.
In a special interview with Israel Hayom, Dr. Bahar said, It is exciting to see how technological progress has allowed us to dramatically help a baby who was suffering from visual impairment that so greatly affected his development. This surgery is a great medical achievement.
Director of the Beilinson Hospital Ophthalmology Division, Dr. Dov Weinberger, said, Visual impairments in children usually cause developmental retardation and serious disability also at a more mature age. Therefore it was critical to perform surgery on the baby immediately, transplanting two specially matching young corneas.