The Doctor Weighs In

We are talking a modified "osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis" (aka MOOK) procedure here.  Great concept, right?  This could be a very good thing to know if you are ever on "Jeopardy" or "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," don't you think?

Let's break it down into manageable bites: 

• Osteo means bone. 
• Odonto refers to teeth. 
• Kerato in this case refers to the cornea. 
• And prosthesis according to Wikipedia is "an artificial extension that replaces a missing body part." 

The procedure is used for people who have lost their sight because of corneal scarring. 

Here is what happens:

1.  The person who has a scarred cornea has one of their canine (eye) teeth removed together with the underlying bone (thus, osteo-odonto). 

2.  The operator drills a hole in the tooth and inserts a cylindrical artificial lens.

3.  The tooth, with the lens, is inserted under the patient's skin for a number of weeks so that it can "bio-integrate" - encourage the patient's tissue ito grow into the synthetic cornea.

4.  The surface of the damaged eye is then cleaned and repaired using skin from inside the patient's mouth.

5.  Finally, the osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis is implanted in the center of the eye.

Results so far have been very encouraging for some these previously blind or severely visually impaired people.  How cool is that?

When I was in medical school many moons ago, a fellow UCSF student and close friend, Diane S. and I had the priviledge of accompanying a boy sent to Shriner's hospital in San Francisco back to Mexico to be reunited with his family.  He had severe corneal scarring because of a herpes viral infection.  He was not a candidate for corneal transplantation because he still had an active infection.  His parents were devastated when their son returned with the same problem he had before the "big trip" north.  They nevertheless graciously invited Diane and me to stay and celebrate the Christmas holidays with them.

I have often wondered whether the boy ever got his corneal transplant.  And, I wonder now if an an "osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis" procedure would have been an additional option.

In the field of medicine, some of the most creative advances have come from the field of opthamology (e.g., online glaucoma screening and other advanced technologies that restore sight.  Blindless and decreased visual acuity are game-changers for people with these conditions.  Could it be possible that, in my lifetime, blindness is eradicated?