A 57-year-old Greek patient was able to see again after his sister donated him germ cells, which were transplanted in his eye. The ophthalmic surgeon, Dr. Ioannis Mallias, who performed the pioneering transplantation, said that the patient had been repeatedly operated on, but the disease was relapsing and as a result he could not see at all.
The only solution for the patient was the transplantation of germ cells. It was not possible to take germ cells from his other eye because he was facing a serious problem. A possible histocompatible donor among his relatives had to be found, as Dr. Mallias explained.
After the necessary tests of histocompatibility were conducted among the patient’s first-degree relatives, his sister was found to be histocompatible with him and accepted to give ocular germ cells.
The innovative transplantation was held in two stages on the same day. The first stage was to take germ cells from the sister and the second was to put the germ cells in the patient’s eye. A week later, it was found that the germ cells were accepted by the 57-year-old’s eye.
His sight got better from the first day after the surgery, which continued in the first month. Twenty days after the surgery, the patient was able to return to his daily activities.
“The germ cells donation by the 57-year-old’s sister shows how important it is for all to understand the great significance of tissue and organ donation so that we can improve our fellow men’s quality of life,” as Dr. Mallias explained. He concluded that a complete bank of ocular transplants should be created in order to cover Greece’s needs and stop transplant import.
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