Milestone - Rare Operation helps Man see light after 15 yrs. (Maharastra - India.)

MUMBAI: Around 15 years ago, when Kala Chowkie resident Krishna Chavan started losing his eyesight, he did not attribute it to the spurious Ayurvedic eye-drops he was using at the time. Within a couple of months of using these drops, Chavan, who was then 50-years-old, lost sight in both eyes. The cornea and iris were glued together.

It was only last week that doctors at J J Hospital, in a rare operation, were able to restore partial sight to his right eye. His left eye was damaged beyond repair.

After 15 years of living in darkness, running from doctor to doctor hoping for a miracle, the elated senior citizen is happy that he can finally “see something’’.

“No doctor was ready to touch my case because there were a number of complications. I also developed cataract in both eyes,’’ said Chavan. “I had been using those eye drops on the recommendation of a relative who told me my eyesight would become better. Initially, there was no effect. I deluded myself into thinking that it was improving my sight. But as some months passed, my vision became hazy. I was short-sighted at the time, and soon even objects near me began to appear blurred. There came a time, when I lost sight completely, first in my left eye, then in the right. I also lost my job,’’ he added.

It was only last month that Chavan decided to knock on the doors of J J Hospital for help. “When he came to us, we realised that his irises were stuck to both his cornea. There was no space for light to be refracted and create an image. This happened due to years of neglect and wrong use of medicines,’’ said Dr T P Lahane, dean and ophthalmology surgeon at J J Hospital in south Mumbai.

The surgery was a complicated procedure. “His left eye was just dead. But we found a very slight gap between his right cornea and iris. We parted the two completely, after which, his cornea had to be cut out along with the cataract membrane. A graft—a cornea donated by the family of a patient who had passed away—was sutured in place,’’ said Dr Lahane, adding that it was a rare case even by public hospital standards.

The surgery took place a week ago, and the results of the operation have been encouraging. Chavan can see up to a distance of one metre with his right eye. “Within two days I could see again. The first person I saw was my wife,’’he said.