Society

Cornea transplants give three new windows on world

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-04-20 08:59

The corneas of two Sri Lankans have benefited three residents including two natives of Sichuan province. The transplant marked the first time Sichuan patients received cornea donations from overseas.

The two donors, identified as Ms Patimona and Mr Amarasona, passed away in April in Sri Lanka. Their corneas were given through the National Eye Bank of Sri Lanka.

Zhang Yinghua, who has been blind for nearly 20 years, received one of the corneas in Chengdu, Sichuan province, on April 10.

Together with two younger natives of Sichuan, the 53-year-old from Xupu county, Hunan province, was the beneficiary.

According to surgeons in the Chengdu Kangqiao Ophthalmology Hospital, the surgeries used to transplant the corneas were successful and the vision of the recipients will improve.

Four million people in China have been blinded by diseases affecting their corneas. Because of a lack of donors, only about 5,000 cornea transplants are performed each year.

(Huaxi Metropolis News)