India’s first eyeball implant surgery at Hyderabad’s L.V. Prasad

Hyderabad: A one-year-old child, born with only one eye, was implanted with an artificial eyeball in the second eye socket. This procedure made L.V. Prasad Eye Hospital the first in the country to implant an “Inflatable Orbital Tissue Expander.”

The implant allows the proper growth of skull bones around the eyeball and keeps the face from becoming distorted. Most of the children born with only one eye have asymmetrical facial bone growth.

This child was lucky as the mother was insistent and despite resistance from the family opted for the implant. This technology has been developed  recently and 13 children in the US have got this implant.

Dr Tarjani Dave, consultant at L.V. Prasad Eye Hospital, said, “It’s an inflated silicon implant, which is filled with saline and as the child grows, the saline needs to refilled from time to time. So far, the reports from the US have been positive.”