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The operation had to be performed immediately, since donated corneal tissue is viable only for a short time.
By Shula Rosen
Doctors at Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa carried out a corneal transplant during repeated air raid alerts triggered by the ongoing conflict with Iran, completing the procedure on an elderly patient who had waited more than a year for a donor cornea, Ynet reported.
The patient, identified only as A., is a man in his 80s from the Haifa area whose vision required a transplant.
Late last week, he was notified that a suitable donor cornea had been found and that surgery could proceed.
Soon afterward, Israel launched its military campaign known as Operation Roaring Lion, raising uncertainty over whether the operation could still take place.
Despite the security situation, the medical team chose to move forward once the donor tissue became available.
Prof. Michael Mimouni, head of the Cornea Unit at Rambam Health Care Campus and chairman of the Israeli Cornea Society, said the doctors believed it was important to proceed both to respect the donor and the donor’s family and to ensure the patient could benefit from the rare opportunity created by the available tissue, which must be used within a limited time.
The transplant was performed under local anesthesia using an advanced surgical method.
During preparations for the procedure, an air raid siren sounded, forcing the team to escort the patient from the operating room to a protected area.
Mimouni said the team left the operating room with the patient and waited in the shelter until the immediate danger had passed.
They then returned and carried out the surgery, which lasted about an hour.
Shortly after the procedure was completed, another siren forced the team and the patient to seek shelter again, Mimouni said.
Hospital officials said the transplant was successful. After remaining at Rambam for observation, the patient was discharged and returned home.
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