In the hospital "Molinete" in Turin, for the first time in the world, thanks to the specific transplantation of part of one eye in place of the other, 83-year-old man who, due to various illnesses, stayed completely blind in both eyes – he saw.

He lost sight in one eye 30 years ago and in the other 10 years ago due to a rare disease that completely destroyed the cornea and the surface of the eye.

It was not possible to restore sight to the left eye, but it remained superficially well preserved. A transplant of part of his right eye allowed him to see again. The operation lasted four hours, and the team of surgeons was led by Professor Michele Reibaldi, director of the eye clinic "Molinete" and Vincenzo Sarnicola, president of the Italian Cornea and Stem Cell Society.

"The novelty is that we have extended the corneal transplant to the whole eye, to the conjunctival scleral tissue that plays a fundamental role in how successful the transplant will be in certain conditions. An eye that has gone blind, but still has functional aspects, should not be sacrificed because it can serve as "spare parts". In the last 20 years, the frontiers of transplantation have moved and we have made huge strides, and Italy has a leading role in the world," explained Professor Sarnicola.

Two weeks after the operation, the patient is able to recognize people and objects and move independently. The left eye has been reconstructed for aesthetic purposes thanks to donor tissue.

"When I woke up and started seeing the shape of my fingers again, it felt like I was reborn," were the first words of the patient who lives in Turin.

In the last few years, two traditional transplants were performed on his right eye, which, unfortunately, did not bear fruit, so a decision was made to perform an "autotransplantation" operation from the left to the right eye for the first time in the world.

One third of the left eye was "autotransplanted" to the right eye, which was reconstructed in this way and the patient regained his sight. Doctors hope that, since the transplant is done using the patient's own "material", rejection will not occur.