| -Head of Ophthalmology qualified to continue work Twelve corneal transplants were conducted over the weekend at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). The procedures, which were facilitated by a team from the United States-based Subraj Foundation, commenced on FridayDr. Shailendra Sugrimand concluded on Sunday.Speaking of the procedures on Sunday was Corneal Transplant Surgeon, Dr. Stephen Waller, who was supported by yet another Corneal Transplant Surgeon, Dr. Joseph Pasternak, a captain in the US Army.Corneas to facilitate the operations were provided by four eye banks in the United States. They were solicited by Dr. Waller who said that he was able to secure 21 corneas for the weekend operations.“I got 21 corneas from four different eye banks and this is the first time that I got that many…Never before I got more than 12 and I have done this is several countries,” said Dr Waller.The Subraj Foundation,Brett Favre Vikings Jersey, which was founded by Guyanese-born philanthropist, George Subraj, who resides in the United States, was able to facilitate similar operations in 2014 at which time six procedures were done. Earlier this year, 11 were conducted.And according to Dr. Waller, all patients who were previously operated on are doing well. “They don’t all always do well but this time in Guyana everyone is doing well so far,Wholesale China Jerseys,” he insisted.Dr. Waller disclosed that most patients who require corneal transplant are those who suffer some form of trauma to their corneas that become infected. He noted that while the eye for the most part is intact a new cornea might be the only thing required to improve a patient’s eyesight.While most patients may require a change of cornea in one eye there are some who may need cornea change to both. Such a patient has already been attended to here by the transplant team, according to Dr. Waller. While one cornea for that patient was changed last year another was done earlier this year, he added.He is confident that with the team’s departure, Head of the GPHC’s Ophthalmology Department, Dr. Shailendra Sugrim, would be able to continue performing corneal transplants on his own. “Dr. Sugrim is gifted and he has all of the instruments,” said Dr. Waller of the Ophthalmology Chief.Corneal Transplant, Dr. Stephen WallerCorneal transplant is a very intricate procedure that can only be conducted by a surgeon with a very steady hand under a microscope. “The suture is a third the size of a human hair and the cornea is only a third an inch across and it is a 50th of an inch thick…you can’t do it without a microscope,” said Dr. Waller.There are currently nine remaining corneas that can be utilised by Dr Sugrim. The corneas are stored in a special liquid approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.But according to Dr. Waller, corneas should not be stored for more than one month since they are the healthiest during this period. The important thing about storage, though, is to ensure that there is a temperature gauge to ensure that the temperature of the corneas remain stable. This therefore means that if there is a blackout the corneas may not be suitable for transplant.Corneas are extracted from the eyes of a recently deceased person who, before their death, would have been registered to donate their organs. The best donors,Barry Sanders Lions Throwback Jersey, according to Dr. Waller, are children from 10 years old while the older donors’ suitability would be dependent on the number of existing cells.Donation is however governed by laws but such laws have not yet been enacted in Guyana. Before use, the eyes are tested for a number of diseases including HIV, syphilis, hepatitis and rabies. Nearly 40,000 transplants are done in the US each year.Dr. Waller is adamant that this transplant is one of the safest in terms of disease transmission.The visiting team, and Dr. Sugrim, are hopeful that Guyana will in the near future be able to harvest its own corneas.Dr. Sugrim said that it is his hope that efforts to address this limitation could be realised within a year. With the establishment of an Eye Bank, a recommendation of the visiting team which was coordinated by Kidney Surgeon, Dr. Rahul Jindal, Guyana is expected to address a protracted shortcoming.Reiterating that the establishment of such a facility would require time to put certain needful measures in place, Dr. Sugrim shared his optimism that the end result would be an Eye Bank that serves not only Guyana, but also the entire Caribbean.“It might take about a year to get it off the ground but we are now going to start the ball rolling. We need to set up an area; we need to buy equipment; we need to train people to go out and harvest corneas…and once this gets off the ground, we can supply corneas to other countries so if anybody else wants to send (corneas) they can ship these to us, and then we can make it available for use,” informed Dr. Sugrim.Another important aspect of the process, he noted,Eddie Robinson Indians Jersey, would be to commence a process of advertising for people to become organ donors.Once a person who is an organ donor becomes deceased, for example by way of a vehicular accident,http://www.theworldsoccersshop.com/France-Benoit-Tremoulinas-Jersey.html, trained technicians would be dispatched to remove their corneas. This process would have to be conducted within about two or three hours of an individual’s demise,Jason Taylor Dolphins Jersey, according to Dr. Sugrim.Dr. Waller is hopeful that as part of Guyana’s preparation to introduce its own Eye Bank training could also be had in Brazil. |
