60-second eye op that restores sight
Hopes £5,000 treatment will come to the NHS
THOUSANDS of older people at risk of blindness could have their sight restored by a 60second eye operation.
It is the first new treatment in a decade that can hold back age-related macular degeneration (AMD) – and there are hopes it will be made available on the NHS.
East-Enders actress June Brown is understood to be one of 1,000 people to have the surgery, costing around £5,000, at the London Eye Hospital.
A study of 244 people with AMD found that after the procedure they could read an additional three to four lines of letters on an eye chart.
The operation – which can be done at the same time as cataract removal, taking less than five minutes in total – will be rolled out to private surgeons across the UK later this month.
It involves a 2mm incision being made behind the cornea to insert a small plastic lens that magnifies and diverts images from the damaged part of the eye to healthy parts.
Surgeon Bobby Qureshi, who pioneered the technology at the London Eye Hospital, treated 90-year-old Miss Brown. He said: ‘When I tested June’s eyes after the operation, I nearly fell off my chair. The improvement was astonishing.
‘From being barely able to read an eye chart, she could read the letters almost to the bottom.
‘I think this is the biggest breakthrough I have come across in my career and if it were available on the NHS it could help millions.’
The Eyemax Mono procedure cannot cure AMD, which affects more than 600,000 Britons, with millions more believed to be in the early stages.
But it can stall the deterioration, giving patients valuable extra time before their sight is lost.
The illness strikes when the macula, which is the part of the eye responsible for central vision, no longer works properly.
The most common form, dry AMD, causes very gradual sight loss.
About one in ten sufferers develop wet AMD, where leaky blood vessels under the macula speed up the process.
The new treatment is mainly for dry AMD, but may be suitable for some people with wet AMD.
It is less risky than the current only other option, an operation to insert a magnifying lens to the eye which has a danger of causing glaucoma.
But patients may still have to undergo uncomfortable monthly injections to stop further blood vessels forming and damaging their eyes.
Mr Qureshi said those he treated had suffered no adverse effects.
Eyemax Mono will be presented to the Royal College of Ophthalmologists next month.
Watchdog Nice has not yet considered it for use on the NHS in England.
‘Improvement was astonishing’