A 46-year-old military veteran from Arkansas who survived a work-related, high-voltage electrical accident underwent the procedure. He had his entire left eye and a portion of his face transplanted from a single donor.
According to NYU Langone Health, it remains unknown if the patient will ever regain sight. However, the transplanted left eye has shown “remarkable signs of health, including direct blood flow to the retina.” NYU Langone says this opens new possibilities for future advancements in vision therapies and related medical fields.
The hospital said its collaboration with DePuy Synthes enabled the surgery to take place. DePuy provided state-of-the-art technology that played “a pivotal role” in both presurgical planning and surgery. Two surgical teams simultaneously operated during the surgery in both the donor and recipient rooms. They adhered to a carefully planned timetable rehearsed over the past year
Among the DePuy offerings were 3D computer surgical planning and patient-specific 3D cutting guides. This enabled the precise alignment of bones and the optimal placement of plates and screws. NYU Langone said this approach helped fit the grafted partial face and whole left eye onto the patient.