Australian first makes world clearer

Theresa Cowell has been suffering from poor vision for a decade, but thanks to a ground-breaking operation the 81-year-old is now seeing things a little more clearly.

The surgeons at Melbourne's Epworth Freemasons hospital fitted Mrs Cowell with a small, implantable telescope in her eye, which they hope will improve her quality of life.

Mrs Cowell was diagnosed with severe macular degeneration, which affects almost two million Australians. One in seven people aged over 50 have signs of age-related macular degeneration, according to the Macular Disease Foundation Australia.

Performed by Dr Elvis Ojaimi, the surgery at Epworth Freemasons was the first time this model of intraocular telescope had been used on a patient in Australia.

"Mrs Cowell had advanced disease in both eyes, and she has experienced poor vision for about 10 years," Dr Ojaimi said.

"People with end-stage macular degeneration have loss of central vision, which affects their ability to read, drive and recognise faces.

"It severely limits their day-to-day activities."

Mrs Cowell had to meet strict criteria to be eligible for the surgery to fit a Galilean telescope into one of her eyes. The telescopic lens provides 2.7 magnification, similar to that of opera glasses.

Dr Ojaimi said the surgery was done using the hospital's advanced Zeiss microscope.

"The high quality of the imaging through the microscope assisted with this challenging operation," he said.

"The large size of the telescope inserted into the eye means the surgery was technically difficult and the functions in the microscope were critical to appropriately position the device."

Mrs Cowell needed months of rehabilitation and practice to train her eye to use the telescope, which does not restore vision but has given her more freedom.

"The magnification has helped the patient recognise faces and read words printed in large font," Dr Ojaimi said.

"Mrs Cowell has also resumed riding her mobility scooter, which means she can catch up with friends and socialise."

Dr Ojaimi said younger patients could have an even better outcome from this type of surgery.

"That's because there is a lot of hard work after the surgery in the rehabilitation process which requires a lot of perseverance by the patient," he said.

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