The single most important development in eye surgery in recent years, involving a new treatment for one of the most common forms of blindness in the elderly, has been claimed by doctors in Britain.
Specialists at Royal Liverpool Hospital last week successfully restored the vision of a 70-year old man suffering from macular degeneration, a progressive impairment in which the patient is left with only peripheral vision.
The team in St Paul's Eye Unit, led by ophthalmic surgeon Dr David Wong, transferred vision from the worn central part of the retina to a healthier area, restoring the man's sight. The results were "wonderful" according to the patient, Mr John Barr, from Pickering, North Yorkshire, who spoke at a press conference.
"I believe this is the single most important surgical development for many years and we are very excited and encouraged by the success so far," Dr Wong said. "What we have demonstrated is that there is spare capacity for vision in the eye. Thus, when one part is worn out as in macular degeneration, another part can be made to take over the work."
The National Council for the Blind of Ireland said the national register of visual impairment for the Department of Health had 7,000 individuals on its books, 855 of them with macular degeneration. A spokeswoman estimated the actual number with the disease could be four times higher. "It is an age-related condition and a lot of people take it for granted they are going to have loss of vision with age, so they don't do anything about it and don't register."
About 10 per cent of people over 60 had some degree of macular degeneration.
The council welcomed news of the new procedure but said they would sound a note of caution. The procedure needed further assessment.
