Visiting team doing two corneal transplants
A team from the Ophthalmological Society of the West Indies (OSWI) is currently in Guyana and will be doing two corneal transplants, GINA reported.
The team will also provide diagnostic services to the eye clinic department of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).
GINA said that this is part of preparatory work leading up to an annual eye care and ophthalmologists conference to be held here in 2017.
Ophthalmologist and Secretary of OSWI, Dr. Rishi Sharma told GINA, “The conference aims to promote good health care throughout the Caribbean and doing this by educating fellow colleagues and raising awareness of eye disease in the Caribbean and bringing treatment to areas where these treatment are lacking at the moment.”
Head of the Medical team to Guyana, Dr. Deo Singh explained the purpose of the team’s visit to Guyana.
“Our purpose is twofold, one is to render some assistance as needed in conducting surgeries and advising on the management of persons with corneal diseases primarily and retinal disease and also to engage in some educational activities by way of lectures and demonstration to nurses and ophthalmic assistants in the medical community. The other part of our activity is to do some groundwork in preparation for the ophthalmological society’s congress which will be held in July next year, July fifth to eighth, 2017 in Georgetown Guyana.”
GINA said that the team will also review patients who had benefitted from prior eye surgeries in Trinidad and Tobago. Dr. Singh noted that some of the major diagnosis being made in Guyana by the team is of corneal diseases and therefore the team will perform two corneal transplant surgeries.
The doctor added that, “With respect to the transplant surgeries, because of the availability or lack thereof of materials we have targeted only three (patients). The third one was not a corneal transplant per say but a scleral transplant and that was done yesterday (Wednesday). My colleagues here will engage in some retinal work.”
The corneal transplant surgeries were assisted by a donation of at least two corneas from the Lions eye bank in Texas. The services provided by the medical team are free of cost and was made possible through collaboration with the GPHC eye clinic, GINA added.