FEATS OF SURGERY

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 92, 12 January 1935, Page 18

FEATS OF SURGERY

Some Modern Miracles

Describing to doctors ,and students at the Middlesex Hospital Medical school the amazing work he has accomplished in the last twelve years in restoring sight to the blind, Mr.-J. Tudor Thomas, the noted Welsh eye surgeon, startled his hearers by disclosing that at least twelve people had volunteered to lose the eight of one eye for the purpose of its cornea being used on behalf of a patient.

Some of the volunteers. Mr. Thomas stated, were desirous of helping relatives; others wore making a selfsacrifice, while the remainder were making the offer, quite frankly, for money. Ito had not accepted any such offers. His method consists in removing the opaque cornea—the external ,1 ransparent skin of the eye through which light passes—and replacing it with cornea taken from the eyes of people who are quite hopelessly blind. There was It poignant note in one of the cases under Mr. ff'homas’ care. A little more than eight years ago a London workman was engaged on a refrigerating plant when an ammonia compressor burst The man, for all practical purposes, lost his sight, and it was decided last year to try cornea transplanting. The operation was splendidly successful. After the eighth day, when the tiny stitches were removed, it was seen that the grafted cornea was holding satisfactorily. On the 16th day the patient was able to describe all that

be saw in the ward. Later, however, the man died from cancer. Detailing other cases, Mr. Thomas related that of the 16 he had conducted several were unsuitable. In one that was definitely in this category, the patient, who had suffered from goitre r.nd a severe ulceration of the cornea had eyes so large that the lids would hardly cover them properly. Eight days after the operation, ihowever, when he was doing well, his father died. The news made him cry—with disastrous results. One of the most remarkable patients, however, was a. woman from Canada, whoso eyes were white. Her condition was caused because, when very young, liver nitrate was applied to them. She did not regard herself as blind. She thought she could see mountains and trees and people, but she was in fact seeing only through her imagination. When after the operation the woman actually began to see. her reactions were strange. Although she got to the stage at which she could find her way about a room without bumping into anything, when a man’s face was drawn in profile she had no conception whatever of what it meant. After a whole morning’s explanation she became, however, to understand. A week later the woman was again shown a drawing of a man’s face in profile, and she failed completely to understand what it was. “I had drawn it from the other side,” explained Mr. Thomas, “and she said it made an enormous difference.” ‘