A 23-year-old woman, who had been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and lost sight as she was on steroids for 15 years, has been able to see again.
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The woman was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a condition in which the immune system attacks healthy tissues affecting organs, including skin, kidneys, blood vessels, and joints.
She had been on steroids for 15 years as a result of which she developed glaucoma in both eyes. “When she came to Rajan Eye Care in Chennai, she was completely blind in both the eyes,” said Mohan Rajan, chairman and medical director.
As the patient had advanced glaucoma with optic nerve damage in the right eye and advanced glaucoma with cataract in the left eye, she was blind in both eyes. She had consulted several specialists in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia before reaching out to Rajan Eye Care hospital, he said.
At the hospital, he led a team that performed a complicated eye surgery in the left eye using Ahmed valve for glaucoma and implanting intraocular lens after treating her cataract. “Post-operatively to our surprise, the patient regained 100% vision in the left eye. The intraocular pressure became normal,” Dr. Mohan said. The patient would return to Chennai after three months for laser treatment for the severely damaged right eye, he said.