Marianas Eye Institute makes history with first organ transplant in the NMI

The CNMI’s first corneal transplant occurred this past week with a collaborative effort between Marianas Eye Institute, the Commonwealth Health Center, and Micronesian Air Cargo Services. Marianas Eye Institute’s own ophthalmologist, Dr. Dennis Williams, performed the historic effort.

Dr. Dennis Williams

Williams, formerly a Clinical Associate Professor of Eye Surgery at the University of South Florida, moved to the CNMI in March of this year to join Marianas Eye Institute. Having a talented surgeon on island that was able to perform the delicate surgery saved the patient, their family and the CNMI significant time and money. Previously this type of procedure was referred off-island.

In a corneal transplant, the patient’s own damaged cornea is removed, and replaced with a donor cornea. The cornea is the clear transparent surface of the eye that covers the brown or blue iris. The cornea can become cloudy because of injury, infection, or changes from aging, and when it does, the patient is unable to see clearly.

Williams has vast experience in performing corneal transplants, and was excited to do the surgery here. “I felt confident that we would have a good outcome from this surgery. The team of medical staff at CHC were prepared and eager to assist in this historic procedure,” he said.

Photo of cornea before (left side) and after (right side). (Contributed Photo)

The procedure, which takes about an hour to perform, involves the removal of the patient’s damaged cornea, and the suturing of the new donor cornea in place with delicate sutures that are thinner than human hair. The surgery, like most eye surgery, is performed using an operating microscope.

“The procedure went very smoothly,” said Williams. “But as with any organ transplant, we have to watch carefully for rejection of the donor tissue by the patient’s immune system.”

Williams explained that corneal transplants have a lower risk of rejection than other organ transplants such as heart transplants and kidney transplants, and the success rate with corneal transplants is very high. “The healing time is approximately 9-12 months, and of course, our ultimate goal is to improve the patient’s vision,” explained Williams.

Performing the transplant required a coordinated effort. “One of the challenges we faced was finding a donor and getting the tissue here,” said Russ Quinn, CEO of Marianas Eye Institute. “The tissue bank in Florida was unfamiliar with the CNMI, so they would only fly the cornea tissue to Guam. With the assistance of Micronesian Air Cargo Services, we were able to get the tissue here the last mile.”

“Despite those challenges, all in all, it is certainly more cost-efficient to fly a new cornea to the CNMI than to fly a patient across the world,” said Quinn. “To perform the surgery in the CNMI was a great savings to the patient and to the Medical Referral system, and of course so much more convenient for the patient and family.”

The operating room team at CHC was well-prepared for the historic surgery. “The CHC staff did beautifully in skillfully assisting throughout the procedure,” said Williams. “I had full confidence in the entire team.”

Asked if they anticipate more corneal transplants, Quinn replied: “Certainly, now that the first one has been performed, we have a system in place to make acquiring the donor tissue easier, and we expect to perform the surgery as often as the need arises. We have always been committed to bringing together the talent and the technology to provide leading care to the peoples of the CNMI.” (PR)