A multidisciplinary team with experience in Donation and Transplantation returned the vision to Cesia, a girl from Piura, just 9 years old, who underwent the first corneal transplant at the San Borja National Children’s Health Institute, thanks to the solidarity gesture of a family that said “yes” to tissue donation.
“My daughter has been waiting for three years for a corneal transplant, and when they called to tell me there was a donor I was excited.
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I am happy and grateful to the doctors of the Institute and to the family that decided to donate, my daughter will be able to see the light of Christmas “, said Elizabeth Vilela Seminario, mother of the minor.
The head of the Donation and Transplantation Unit of the INSN San Borja, Melva Benavides, explained that Cesia was born with a congenital disorder that caused a corneal leukoma in her left eye and that triggered the loss of vision, thus preventing her from having a normal life.
On December 6, the medical feat was carried out by specialists in ophthalmological surgery and corneal transplantation who proceeded to strip all the damaged cornea of the donor and place the new transparent tissue in the recipient. Anesthesiologists, nurses and nursing technicians were also present at the operation.
The complex surgery lasting approximately two hours was a success and allowed the minor’s visual axis to be conditioned to regain vision.
The first corneal transplant in this pediatric center was carried out thanks to the coordination of the Donation and Transplantation Unit and the Procura team that intervened quickly to expedite the donation of the tissue and proceed to the ablation of the donor.
The General Director of the INSN San Borja, Dr. Zulema Tomas Gonzáles, thanked the entire multidisciplinary team for the work carried out and sent a message after the minor was discharged.
“It fills us with joy and satisfaction because our commitment is to ensure the quality of life of the children of the country and, the case of Cesia this Christmas is a miracle of love and life.”
Dr. Melva Benavides, highlighted that recently the INSN San Borja was accredited by the Ministry of Health to perform corneal transplant surgeries in children and that the only option for them is a corneal transplant with a cadaveric donor.
Therefore, he asked Peruvians to practice the culture of organ and tissue donation so that children like Cesia have an opportunity to improve their quality of life.
There are currently three children, ages 11, 9 and 8, who are on the waiting list for corneal transplant surgery. “They are just waiting for a donor,” he reported.
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