The European was the first to place a synthetic cornea on a blind patient

A 38-year-old patient underwent an artificial corneal transplant NS From
Montpellier. This first clinical trial in humans was the subject of a study of 45 patients worldwide: in Canada, the Netherlands, Israel, Paris and Montpellier. After testing on animals, two patients have already benefited in Israel through this transplant since the beginning of the year.

Corneal disease is the third leading cause of blindness in the world. They are of infectious, inflammatory, traumatic or genetic origin. Current solutions to treat corneal blindness include donor transplantation. Sometimes rejected grafts, and whose lifespan is limited, often require a new transplant after ten years.

“Immune reaction is not possible”

According to the WHO, 20% of corneal blindness cannot be treated with a donor corneal transplant. Nine million people worldwide suffer from it. In France, in 2019 before Kovid, 5.436 actions Corneal transplantation was performed.

Originally from Bordeaux, the first French patient to receive an artificial transplant suffered from keratitis associated with the herpes virus. On several occasions he was denied a conversion. The NS De Montpellier joins the Israeli start-up Cornet Vision at the source of this synthetic cornea. “CHU has been put on this kind of development in terms of innovation,” said Professor Vincent Diane, head of the Ophthalmology Service. “Since it is a synthetic material, an immune reaction is not possible. This procedure creates a lot of hopes and expectations for patients who have been rejected for transplantation.