27岁男子成功移植猪眼角膜恢复视力

A 27-year-old man is able to see again with his right eye thanks to a successful pig cornea transplant at Third Xiangya Hospital in Central China's Hunan Province, Beijing Youth Daily reported.

据《北京青年报》报道，在中国中部湖南省的中南大学湘雅三医院成功接受了猪角膜移植手术之后，一名27岁的男子的右眼又可以看到东西了。

His sight recovered to 0.3 after the operation, according to his doctor, surnamed Cao.

据他的主治医生曹医生介绍，术后他的视力已经恢复到0.3。

The man had necrotic stromal keratitis and could see almost nothing. Treatment required a new cornea, but the number of donated human corneas is far fewer than demand.

这名男子患有“坏死性角膜基质炎”，几乎看不到东西。要治疗需要新角膜，但是当前人体捐献的角膜数量远远达不到需求。

The transplant doesn't involve placing a pig's cornea directly on the human eye, oculist Cao explained, but uses the animal's three-dimensional structure to help form new corneal tissues. The procedure also requires special technological treatment.

眼科医生曹医生表示，猪眼角膜移植并不是直接把猪的眼角膜移植到人的眼球上，而是将动物角膜的三维立体结构移植到人的眼球上，形成一个新的角膜组织。这个操作还需要特殊的技术处理。

The cornea of a pig is the most similar among animals to humans in some parameters, which makes it the best choice as a temporary replacement, said Tang Renhong, director of the cornea transplant center at the hospital.

该医院角膜移植中心主任唐仁泓称，在动物中，猪眼角膜的参数与人体最接近，这使得它成为临时替代品的最佳选择。

Tang added it was not the first time the center conducted such surgery. Pig corneas do not need a vascular supply, so the success rate can reach 90 percent, but how long a patient can maintain eyesight depends on whether the transplant is rejected by the body or not, he said.

他还表示，这不是湘雅三医院第一次做“猪角膜移植手术”。猪眼角膜不需要血管供给，因此手术成功率高达90%。但是一个病人能维持视力多长时间，主要取决于身体是否对移植有排斥反应。

The procedure was researched and developed by a company in South China's Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, and began to be applied in clinic in 2016, Tang explained, adding that some hospitals in Beijing and Wuhan in Hubei Province started to conduct such surgeries last year. To date, there are less than 10 successful cases on record.

唐仁泓解释称，这一手术是由广东省深圳市一家公司研发的，并于2016年开始临床应用。他还表示，北京和湖北武汉的一些医院从去年就开始进行这种手术了。迄今为止，记录在案的成功病例还不到10例。