When my son was born with defects in his eyes (technically called, Limbal Dermoids) in 1990, we were living in Delhi. One of the attending doctors suggested that we immediately take him to LV Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad for further treatment.
He cited 2 reasons for that. One was that eye treatment was better done in the South, and especially for my son only LVPEI would be the best. The second reason given was that availability of donor cornea is higher in the South than in rest of the country.
We lost no time to go to LVPEI, and today thanks to the expertise and dedication of doctors there and later in Hyderabad’s Apollo Hospital, my son’s eyes have improved a lot.
Technology has advanced by leaps and bounds. Yesterday, a new state-of-the-art eye hospital was inaugurated in the city. Co-owned by MP Birla Group and Madurai-based Aravind Eye Hospital, the Rs.25-crore hospital will, among other offerings, cater to complex corneal transplantation.
While earlier a single cornea would be used for one patient, the new technology at the hospital will make it possible to use layers of a cornea in each case, thereby treating more than one patient with one cornea. Of course, the number of times a cornea can be used will depend on the condition of cornea at the time of its collection and preservation.
With this happening, the waiting time for patients needing donor cornea to be operated upon will reduce, and it’s not only a medical advance but a great social advance as well.
To see Mr. RS Lodha appearing in the public ceremony (refer TT news) as chairman of MP Birla group, what with Priyamvada Birla will case still lingering on at the courts, is interesting too. Incidentally, my son studied at the city-based MP Birla HS School on James Long Sarani for several years and passed his ICSE last year.
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