District hospital conducts corneal transplant surgery

For the first time, Keratoplasty, also known as corneal transplant surgery, was performed at a district government hospital in Tumakuru on Wednesday.

Till date, the transplant surgeries were conducted at the Minto Eye Hospital in Bengaluru.

Dr Veerabhadraiah, district surgeon, said it was just a month ago that the district hospital received the license to perform corneal transplant and a successful transplant was carried out on a 70-year-old man.

Dr A Manjunath, the specialist who performed the surgery, said it was for the first time such transplant was conducted outside Bengaluru.

“The patient had severe corneal thinning and was on the verge of losing his eyesight at any moment. A triple procedure was conducted on the patient due to the multiple complications that the patient had developed,” he added.

He said that the district hospital in Tumakuru is equipped to perform corneal transplant surgeries.