The first-ever complete human eye transplant has been successfully carried out by a team of New York University Langone surgeons, NYU, on Thursday, November 9.
The patient, Aaron James had an accident with high-voltage electrical lines that destroyed most of his face and one eye.
However, by supporting the implanted eye socket and lid, the NYU Langone Health physicians believed that replacing the lost one would improve the aesthetic outcomes for his new face.
It may be considered that the surgery was successful, but it’s far too soon to know if the man will ever see through his new left eye.
The NYU team announced on Thursday, that James is recovering well from the dual transplant last May and the donated eye looks remarkably healthy.
James also stated that as doctors examined his progress he has been feeling good.
“It feels good. I still don’t have any movement in it yet. My eyelid, I can’t blink yet. But I’m getting a sensation now.
“You got to start somewhere, there’s got to be a first-person somewhere”, he said.
“Maybe you’ll learn something from it that will help the next person”, James added.
The transplants of the cornea the clear tissue in front of the eye are common to treat certain types of vision loss. But transplanting the whole eyeball, its blood supply, and the critical optic nerve that must connect it to the brain is considered a moonshot in the quest to cure blindness.
The outcome of James’s surgery will offer scientists an unprecedented window into how the human eye tries to heal.
“We’re not claiming that we are going to restore sight.
“But there’s no doubt in my mind we are one step closer”, Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez, NYU’s plastic surgery chief, who led the transplant stated.
Some specialists had feared the eye would quickly shrivel like a raisin. Instead, when Rodriguez propped open James’s left eyelid last month, the donated hazel-colored eye was as plump and full of fluid as his own blue eye, with good blood flow and no sign of rejection.
Now researchers have begun analyzing scans of James’s brain that detected some puzzling signals from the optic nerve.
According to his wife Allie, James was working for a power line company in June 2021 when he was electrocuted by a live wire. This event led to the loss of his left arm, requiring a prosthetic that had to be removed. Multiple reconstructive surgeries couldn’t repair his extensive facial injuries including his missing nose and lips.
He pushed through physical therapy until he was strong enough to escort his daughter Allie to a high school homecoming ceremony, wearing a face mask and eye patch. Still, he required breathing and feeding tubes and longed to smell, taste, and eat solid food again.
“In his mind and his heart, it’s him so I didn’t care that, you know, he didn’t have a nose. But I did care that it bothered him,” she said.
Face transplants remain rare and risky. James’s is only the 19th in the US.
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