US veteran undergoes world's first whole-eye, partial-face transplant

Aaron James, a military veteran from Arkansas, the US, earlier this year underwent the world’s first whole-eye and partial-face transplant led by a surgical team from NYU Langone Health.

The 21-hour-long procedure involved 140 medical professionals.

NYU Langone Health also released details about James’ whole-eye and partial-face transplant operation on November 8. In 2021, the 46-year-old was working as a utility line worker when a 7,200-volt live wire touched his face. James lost vision in his left eye and the accident also damaged his face. Over the years, James had to undergo multiple surgeries to reconstruct his face, the hospital statement added.

While James has yet to get vision in the transplanted eye, doctors said he is showing remarkable progress.

Dr. Bruce E, a transplant surgeon, in the statement, said, “The progress we’ve seen with the eye is exceptional, especially considering that we have a viable cornea paired with a retina showing great blood flow five months after the procedure. This far exceeds our initial expectations, given our initial hope was that the eye would survive at least 90 days.”

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Dr Eduardo D. Rodriguez, the director of the Face Transplant Programme, spoke about the importance of this surgery and said that we’ve accomplished the first successful whole-eye transplant with a face is a tremendous feat many have long thought was not possible. "We’ve made one major step forward and have paved the way for the next chapter to restore vision," he added.

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