Changing Times
A recipient’s decades-long journey to sight
John Ruggiero has seen a lot in
71 years. But something he never
imagined was the day when his
sight would be restored in just
a matter of hours.
John lived with vision problems since he was a
teenager, but it wasn’t until his 20s that he realized
how poor his eyesight had become.
“I was enlisting in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps
(ROTC) program, and during my physical the doctor
said with eyesight like mine I’d be dead in six months,”
John recalled.
John was diagnosed with keratoconus, a progressive
eye disease that causes the cornea to thin and become
cone-shaped, resulting in distorted vision.
In 1969 treatments for keratoconus were limited,
but a relatively new operation – a cornea transplant
– offered some hope for restoring John’s sight.
John was placed on a waiting list and, after several
months, received a transplant.
The recovery was long and arduous. He spent 25 hours
under anesthesia, followed by 11 days in the hospital
laying flat on his back, motionless with his eyes closed.
Then came two weeks at home before he could finally
return to work.
1990s
Surgeons and researchers
begin to develop new
transplant and tissue
preparation techniques
that offer vastly improved
outcomes for more patients.
In 1997, the FDA begins
regulating eye banks to
reduce transmission of
communicable diseases and
ensure tissue safety. The
cornea transplant waiting
list is virtually eliminated
by the growing support for
eye donation.
2000s
Specialized transplant
procedures using only a
portion of the cornea are
refined and introduced
into clinical practice
launching the modern era
of transplantation. The
techniques significantly
improve the recovery and
transplant process, and
outcomes for many patients.
In 2006, Eversight begins
offering tissue preparation
services to meet the
growing demand for these
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While the surgery was considered a success, the results
were fair at best, John said, leaving him with 20/100
vision. But he took it all in stride.
“You have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and
move on. Live life like anyone else,” John said. And he
did just that – starting a family, raising three children
and building a successful career.
But the degenerative nature of keratoconus brought
John a lifetime of treatments to improve his vision
including numerous eyeglass and contact lens
prescriptions, refractive and cataract surgeries, and
many more transplants.
The most recent transplant truly opened John’s eyes
to a new world.
In January of last year, he scheduled his sixth cornea
transplant. This latest experience was far different than
the first: John arrived at the surgical center at 10 in the
morning and was back home by 1:30 that afternoon.
Even more astounding is that John now has nearly
perfect 20/20 vision.
“If someone had told me after my first transplant
experience that one day I’d be home just hours
after surgery, I would have never believed them,”
John said. “I have better vision now at 71 than I did
when I was 30!”
Looking to
the Future
2010s
Eversight expands fullservice tissue processing
for new treatment options.
In partnership with
experienced transplant
surgeons, Eversight
launches a training
program to teach the next
group of surgeons the latest
transplant techniques for
their patients.
Eversight partners
with surgeons
and researchers
to find new ways
to treat corneal
blindness through
improved transplant
techniques, cell
therapies, bionic
technologies and
more.
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