Son's tooth restored sight to blind Irishman
British doctors restored the eyesight of an Irish worker by transplanting a tooth and fragments of a jaw bone taken from his son into his eye.
Bob McNichol, a 57-year-old father of eight children, lost his sight two years ago, as a result of injuries sustained in an accident at a garbage recycling plant: a jet of molten aluminum hit him in the face.
A rare operation called osteoodontokeratoprosthetics (OOKP) was agreed to be performed by specialists from the Sussex Ophthalmology Clinic in Brighton. The essence of the operation is to install a corneal prosthesis – a cylindrical optical device attached to a plate made of tooth tissue and a fragment of the jaw bone. The 23-year-old son of McNicol agreed to donate a fang and a bone fragment for the manufacture of a prosthesis.
The operation on the patient's right eye was performed in two stages with an interval of several months. The first stage took ten hours, the second – about five. Doctors refused to operate on the left eye because they suffered too much as a result of the injury. The operation led to a partial restoration of vision: now McNicol is able to move around without the help of a cane, serve himself independently, and even watch TV.
The technique of osteoodontokeratoprosthetics was proposed in the 60s of the last century by the Italian surgeon Benedetto Strampelli. Subsequently, Strampelli's methodology was refined by his students. Due to the increased complexity, such operations are carried out only in a few medical centers around the world.
Source: Son's tooth helps save dad's sight – Independent.ie , 02/28/2008