A MAN has made history by becoming the first patient in England to receive an artificial cornea in a groundbreaking 'single stitch' surgery. Cecil Farley, 91, faced a year-long wait for sight-saving surgery after a human cornea transplant failed - but his surgeon offered him the chance to skip the queue by using an artificial one. Medics hope that one day the new artificial corneas could reduce the need for human cornea donations.
Thomas Poole, a consultant ophthalmologist at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust told the PA news agency the use of artificial corneas is a "great advancement for patient care". The new product, which replaces replaces the inner part of the cornea, has been likened to a contact lens and is surgically attached to the eye by a single stitch and put in place with a gas bubble. Cecil, known to his friends as John, said the transplant surgery has enabled him to continue to see his 83-year-old wife Elizabeth.
He had no vision in his right eye but his sight has slowly been improving since the procedure, which took place in February. It makes your life fuller when your eyes work properly - you don't realise how debilitating it is until it happens to you John, from Chobham in Surrey, had problems with his eye for around 15 years. Medics from Frimley offered the procedure, which is a type of corneal implant called endothelial keratoplasty and involves removing the abnormal inner lining of the cornea and replacing it with an artificial cornea, rather than a d.