New York has become the first city in the world to successfully perform a whole eye transplant. While cornea transplants have been used to treat certain types of vision loss, this groundbreaking procedure marks the first time a human eyeball has been transplanted.
According to reports, the recipient of this surgery was a US military veteran who suffered severe facial injuries, resulting in the loss of his left eye. Over 140 medical professionals worked together to make this a success. The rare partial face and eyeball transplant took approximately 21 hours to complete.
This operation also marks the 19th face transplant performed in the United States and while the transplanted eye does not immediately restore vision, the potential of this has not been ruled out.
