Navajo Times

Medical Progress Your Health

A woman, blind for a decade, sees her young children for the first time. A man who has always lived in darkness is given sight and cannot get over the wonder of color. A youngster runs freely after years of groping and hesitating.

Miracles? Such cures would have been so defined a decade or two ago.

Today, they are more commonplace but still miracles to those who benefit from them.

These cases of sight restored are the result of a delicate operation known as 'corneal transplant.' They are brought about by a truly priceless gift the donation of sight from those who have died to those who still live. Not all cases of blindness can be cured in this way.

But, where conditions are right, the results are 90% successful.

The operation is well-known today; many famous and distinguished people are part of its program. But it has faced two major problems in the past.

The first involved a misunderstanding. People willed their eyes. This, in spite of their excellent intentions, was useless. A will is read several days or weeks after death.

Cornea must be transplanted within a few hours. Today doctors and hospitals have release forms available, and those who have signed them make sure that friends and family know of their intention.

The second problem was one of skill. This operation is so delicate that few surgeons even expert ophthalmologists were qualified to perform it.

This led to the tragedy of sight donated, a blind person eagerly awaiting it, but no surgeon available to perform the transfer in the time limit. Obviously, the only solution was to furnish surgeons with a more accurate instrument.

In the past few years, a giant step in this direction has been taken through the efforts of one of the leading surgeons in the field.

He felt that the operation could be performed more quickly, more precisely, and by more surgeons if it employed a motor-driven surgical knife.

The 'transfer' is such a delicate process that it calls for the ultimate in precision. But, when a motor-driven instrument is used, it becomes an operation that hundreds of surgeons can perform. The motor adds priceless precision.

The problem then was to find, or develop, the perfect motor.

It had to be small, easy to hold, free of vibration. Further, it must not heat up in the hand, even when used for lengthy periods of time.

Working with a surgical instrument firm, the doctor experimented with many motors and found what he wanted in a most surprising place -- an electric shaver. Norelco's rotary action, which eliminates vibration and is designed for shaving comfort, proved to give the smooth performance he was looking for. In order to make sure that the instrument was easy to hold, he selected a woman's model -- the Coquette, because of its easily-held cylindrical shape.

In using this new device (created by removing shaving head and inserting a surgical knife), the doctor found another boon: the operation could be performed in less time.

A cut of 75% to 80% in operating time is vital to both doctor and patient.

Today, the selected cases where corneal transplants work are infinitely more certain of success thanks to three things: more donors, the development of a new instrument, and the discovery of the proper motor in a lady's shaver.