Media Release 

Manipal, Jul 8: Doctors at Kasturba Hospital, Manipal, helped a Shivamogga farmer regain his vision by performing a unique surgery.

The 60-year-old farmer was diagnosed with right eye Pseudophakic Bullous Keratopathy. He underwent a new and innovative type of corneal transplant surgery for restoration of his vision, known as Descemet’s Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty (DSEK).

This surgery performed by cornea consultant Dr Manali Hazarika, is first-of-its-kind to be performed at Manipal.

Ten years ago, the farmer had undergone cataract surgery in his right eye at a local hospital. Unfortunately, he was not able to regain good vision post operatively. Although he consulted several doctors, and was prescribed various eye drops, he continued to suffer from unilateral corneal blindness for almost a decade.

The sexagenarian as a final resort visited Kasturba Hospital at Manipal in June. The doctors diagnosed him with right eye Pseudophakic Bullous Keratopathy and decided to perform DESK.

Traditionally, corneal transplant involves replacing the entire thickness of the cornea, regardless of whether the disease is in the anterior or posterior aspect of the cornea. However, Descemet’s Stripping Endothelial Keratoplasty (DSEK) is a newer type of minimally invasive corneal transplant. Here, the inner diseased layer of the patient’s cornea is replaced. The inner layer, is peeled off from the patient, and replaced with a partial thickness graft that is only 90 microns thick. So, instead of replacing the entire cornea, the transplanted donor graft consists of only Posterior Stroma, Descemet and Endothelial layers.

This transplant is superior to a full thickness corneal transplant, because the donor is attached to the host through a smaller wound. As sutures are not used, there is less chance of rejection, thereby giving patients a quicker recovery of vision.

This advanced surgery is performed in only select centres across India. Dr Manali Hazarika has trained in corneal transplant surgeries from Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard University, Boston, USA and has also completed her long term fellowship training in Cornea and Cataract surgery from Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

Dr Sulatha V Bhandary, head of department, Ophthalmology said, “this advanced surgery is the first DSEK surgery to be performed at Kasturba Hospital, Manipal. Now, Kasturba Hospital features among one of the few centres in India to offer lamellar corneal transplant services.” 

Dr Avinash Shetty, medical superintendent, Kasturba Hospital, Manipal, congratulated the team for introducing and performing this advanced surgery. “It gives more hope to the minimally invasive corneal transplant in Udupi and neighboring districts,” he said.