Canine Tooth Restores Sight to Blind Woman

by Benny Arce

There’s More to Canine Teeth than Meets the Eye

The bicuspids or canine teeth in the upper jaw are sometimes called the eye teeth because of their position below the eyes. In a recent operation conducted by Dr. Victor Perez on 60-year-old Sharron “Kay” Thornton, there arose another reason why the canines should be called “eye teeth”. One of Thornton’s canines helped restore her vision after nine years of blindness.

Stevens-Johnson Syndrome

Thornton, a former restaurant manager from Smithsdale, Mississippi, contracted Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) in 2000. This was apparently caused by medication she was taking at the time. This syndrome is a type of erythema multiforme characterized by lesions of the skin and mucous membranes, and purulent conjunctivitis. These lesions are painful and manifest themselves as red or purple rashes or blisters that involve swelling containing fluid serum.

The particular case of Thornton was not exceptional as far as the etiology of the syndrome is concerned. Half of all SJS are caused by medications. The development of her disease conformed to known processes. The top layer of her skin began to die and fall off. So did her hair and nails. In a week, the cells on the surface of her eyes also began to die eventually causing severe scarring of her cornea. Although she later recovered from SJS the corneal scarring left her permanently blind.

A Chance to See Light Again

Thornton says that she was so embarrassed and humiliated that her daughter had to take care of her to the point that she actually contemplated suicide. A previous attempt to restore her sight involving a stem cell procedure had failed. Cornea transplant is also not an option. So when the Bascom Palmer Institute informed her that she qualified for a procedure called Modified Osteo-Odonto Keratoprosthesis or MOOKP, she jumped at the chance although it has never been performed in the United States.

The surgical procedure was performed by Dr. Victor Perez, an associate professor of ophthalmology and a cornea specialist at the institute. Two weeks after the eye bandages were removed, the treated eye has regained a 20/70 vision even without corrective lenses.

Modified Osteo-Odonto Keratoprosthesis (MOOKP)

MOOKP involves the extraction of a healthy eye tooth and a jawbone and their use as a base to hold a prosthetic lens. These are shaved and sculpted with a hole drilled in the center to hold the lens. To promote their bonding, these were implanted into the chest of Thornton for months, after which it was taken out and implanted into her eye.

Perez said this procedure was necessary for Thornton because her case is exceptional. A plastic base would not have worked because her eyes were too dry and it was covered with skin. He added that an MOOKP procedure is recommended only for those who have end-stage eye surface damage who can still localize a light source.

The Other Side

There are, of course, skeptics who are convinced that MOOKP is too difficult and disfiguring because the eyes do not look natural after the procedure. Dr. Ivan Schwab of the American Academy of Ophthalmology said that there are alternatives to MOOKP that are just as good.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Woman has tooth implanted into eye (telegraph.co.uk)
• Implanted tooth helps restore woman’s sight (cnn.com)
• New Role for an Eye Tooth: Sight Again (blisstree.com)
• Tooth Transplanted into Eye Helps Cure Blindness (singularityhub.com)
• A Tooth for an Eye: Surgery Restores Patient’s Vision (blogs.wsj.com)

Tags: MOOKP, Sharron "Kay" Thornton, Stevens–Johnson syndrome, Victor Perez

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 11th, 2009 at 10:02 pm and is filed under Disease info, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.