Qingming Memorial: Corneal Transplantation Illuminates the Light of Life, Dongguan Aier Creates' Dongguan Speed '

I send my condolences during the Qingming Festival

This year's Qingming Festival, the staff of Aier Eye Bank, organized by the Red Cross Societies and relevant departments in various places, participated in the commemorative activities of thanking and remembering human organ donors, and presented white chrysanthemums to those donors who chose to "leave starlight" at the end of their lives.

"After suffering in the dark for many years, I almost gave up" "My world lit up again after the corneal transplant" "Thank you Director Ye for letting me see again! "Patients who have undergone corneal transplantation are full of excitement and gratitude. This beam of light comes from the donor's gift across life and death, and it is the "light watchman" like Director Ye Jianzhang, director of the Department of Cornea and Ophthalmology of Dongguan Aier Eye Hospital, who turns this gift into a miracle.

0.5 mm of hope: a glimmer of light at the end of darkness

There are about 400-5 million blind patients with corneal disease in our country, and more than 100,000 new people fall into the dark abyss every year, but less than 10,000 patients can undergo corneal transplant surgery every year.

"The cornea, this layer of transparent tissue that is only 0.5 mm thick, once it is diseased, if not treated in time, it may become blind. From congenital corneal leukoplakia to traumatic corneal opacity, countless patients count their days in the dark. Director Ye Jianzhang's words were heavy, "And there are only more than 100 ophthalmologists in the country who can do corneal transplants." "

Next, let's get to know the things about "corneal transplant"!

/ What is corneal blindness? /

The cornea is a transparent film at the front of the eye, the first key structure for vision, and one of its important functions is refraction. Since the cornea is located directly in front of the eye, the thickness of the center is about 0.5mm, and the thickest part of the edge is only 0.8~1mm, the cornea is very susceptible to varying degrees of damage, and a series of lesions such as infection and rupture occur.

Corneal lesions can make the originally transparent cornea cloudy or scarred, which can affect light penetrating the cornea and entering the eye, preventing clear imaging. In severe cases, blindness or even removal of the eyeball is called corneal blindness.

/ What is a corneal transplant? /

Corneal transplantation is one of the important vision restoration surgeries in ophthalmology for the purpose of replacing the original cloudy or diseased corneal tissue using allogeneic healthy and transparent corneal sheets with normal function, so as to restore vision in the affected eye, enhance vision, treat certain corneal diseases, or improve appearance.

Corneal transplantation is a delicate and complex operation, which requires extremely high requirements for surgeons, requiring doctors to have superb operating skills and deep medical knowledge, which is an important reason why doctors who can complete corneal transplantation in China are so scarce.

/ Who needs a corneal transplant? /

There are many diseases that can cause corneal blindness, such as congenital corneal leukoplakia, keratoconus, hereditary corneal dystrophy, corneal dermoides, traumatic corneal leukoplakia, infectious keratitis, corneal tumors, corneal endothelial decompensation after internal eye surgery, etc., which can be treated by corneal transplant surgery.

/ What are the types of corneal transplantation? /

At present, Dongguan Aier Eye Hospital carries out femtosecond laser-assisted keratoplasty, including penetrating corneal transplantation, deep lamellar corneal transplantation, corneal endothelial transplantation (DSEK, DMEK), and complex combined keratoplasty.

Warehouse and station linkage: shorten the waiting time for donors

"Last year, we completed more than 20 transplants, and the fastest one only took a week." In the context of the average waiting time of corneal donors in the country exceeding 1 year, how does Dongguan Aier create "Dongguan speed"?

The answer is hidden in the "life network" built by Aier Ophthalmology Group. 9 large eye banks and 62 corneal receiving stations are like nerve endings all over the country, quickly passing the baton of love. Under the "warehouse-station combination" mode, corneal materials and other ocular tissues are collected, screened, processed, preserved, and studied, and safe and high-quality donor materials are distributed to various hospitals in a timely manner to provide to patients waiting in line for corneal transplant surgery.

"Through the pupil fusion system, the integration of corneal resources, experts, public welfare institutions and other forces has effectively shortened the waiting time for donors, and corneal transplantation can be arranged in about 4 weeks, making up for the dilemma of insufficient local corneal donations."

With love as an eye: illuminate the light of life

For corneal blind patients, in addition to the shortage of corneal donors, the cost of surgery is also a problem faced by many families. Since the "'You Are My Eyes' Public Welfare Relief Project for Corneal Blindness Patients" and the "Keratoconus Public Welfare Project" initiated by Aier Ophthalmology and Hunan Eye Public Welfare Foundation have been implemented in Dongguan, it has provided surgical assistance to nearly 10 low-income patients. Relevant public welfare projects are eligible patients, according to the actual situation and surgical method, corneal collagen cross-linking surgery can be given up to 5,000 yuan of assistance, and corneal transplant surgery can be given up to 10,000 yuan of assistance.

Bringing together multiple social forces, more and more corneal blind patients have obtained the opportunity for surgery, "but this is not enough, we advocate that more people join the ranks of corneal donation, train more corneal transplant doctors, and jointly bring light to this darkness." ”

For Director Ye Jianzhang, a corneal transplant expert, the success of each operation is a "tripartite contract" that transcends time and space: the selflessness of the donor, the ingenuity of the doctor, and the rebirth of the recipient.

Darkness is never eternal

As long as there are still people willing to be carriers of light