PRESS RELEASE
Orange County Eye Surgeon Teaches Eye Transplant Procedure in Former Soviet Union, Helps to Establish Armenia's First Eye Tissue Bank
Last update: 1:57 p.m. EST Dec. 10, 2008
LAGUNA HILLS, CA, Dec 10, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Dr. John Hovanesian of Orange County-based Harvard Eye Associates visited the Republic of Armenia in mid-November to establish the country's first eye tissue bank and to teach local cornea specialists the surgical technique for Descemet-stripping endothelial keratoplasty (DSEK). As a volunteer of the Armenian EyeCare Project, the physician also performed numerous surgeries for the country's underserved.
Dr. Hovanesian worked with a team of local surgeons headed by Anna Hovakimyan in Yerevan -- Armenia's capital. Hovakimyan's fellowship was sponsored by Armenian EyeCare, an Orange County-based nonprofit organization started by Harvard Eye Associates founder Roger Ohanesian in 1992.
The relatively new DSEK technique allows surgeons to remove a much smaller portion of the patient's cornea compared with older methods of transplantation. The equipment -- valued at $100,000 -- was underwritten by Armenian EyeCare board members, Harvard Eye Associates, Baush and Lomb, Moria Inc. and other local supporters of the project. Dr. Hovanesian traveled to Armenia at his own expense.
Because there are so many chemical injuries and similar types of eye problems in Armenia, the Armenian EyeCare paved the way for a local tissue bank in Armenia shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union. After the legal support system was established several years later, Armenian EyeCare sponsored an Armenian surgeon to complete a fellowship in eye banking.
"The procedure has a steep learning curve," Dr. Hovanesian said, "but the results are well worth the effort, especially for Armenia's population suffering from a clouded cornea from injury or disease." He said that distance and poverty often make it difficult for patients to get to the capital city for follow-up care after a traditional full-thickness corneal transplant. DSEK, which is associated with a significantly lower post-operative burden of care compared with a full-thickness corneal transplant, was a perfect fit.
Dr. Hovanesian performed several surgeries over the course of his four-day visit last month, but a sixteen year-old girl named Ani Krikorian touched him most deeply. Ani (Dr. Hovanesian has a two-year old named Ani) had a chemical injury with household bleach to both eyes at age two and has not had vision for much of her life. Dr. Hovanesian performed the DSEK procedure on Ani last month and the results so far point to full recovery and restoration of vision.
Image Available:
http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=889889
Barbara Kimler
(949) 215-0417
Email Contact
SOURCE: Harvard Eye Associates
http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/emailprcntct?id=B9766E81D1BFF624
Copyright 2008 Market Wire,