Israeli doctors illuminate the blind

2002/01/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Medikuntza

It can't be said to have been a miracle, but in Israel, doctors at the Ramban hospital in Haifa have returned sight to a 54-year-old blind man from an eye. When a clot blocked the main artery carrying oxygen to the retina, the patient lost sight of the left eye. In these cases, for intraocular pressure to decrease, doctors try to expand the blood vessels and sometimes it is possible to partially recover sight.

On this occasion, however, doctors introduced the patient into a hyperbaric chamber of more than one atmosphere. The result is that man has fully recovered his sight. Hyperbaric chambers – or decompression chambers – are mainly used in cases of embolism and carbon monoxide poisoning. They have often been used to help divers when their rapid exit to the water surface blocks their arteries.