12 corneal transplant surgeries conducted at GPHC

Mar 29, 2017 News

…represent continued support of Subraj Foundation

Between March 8 and March17 last, 12 corneal transplant surgeries were conducted at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). The surgeries were undertaken as a continued collaboration between the GPHC and the

Dr. Shailendra Sugrim, Head of Department of Ophthalmology (third from right) receiving the corneas from Mr. Tony Subraj, son of the Late George Subraj – founder of the Subraj Foundation. Also in photo are Dr. Rahul Jindal (extreme right), Jasmine Subraj, and two other members of the visiting team.

United States-based Subraj Foundation.
According to Head of the GPHC’s Department of Ophthalmology, Dr. Shailendra Sugrim, “The department was honoured once again to be supported by the Subraj Foundation transplantation team for the third time.”
This is in spite of the fact that “the Subraj Foundation suffered a tremendous loss in the passing of its founder, the late Mr. George Subraj, who has made significant contribution in facilitating Kidney and Corneal Transplants in Guyana.”
The recent visit represented the Foundation’s 24th trip to Guyana. It was led by George Subraj’s son and daughter, Tony and Jasmine Subraj. The two, along with their mother, Gloria, have committed to following in the footsteps paved by their late father and husband.
The clinical team, according to Dr. Sugrim, was led by Dr. Rahul Jindal who has been previously coming to Guyana with a record of already performing 26 kidney transplants here. During this third corneal transplant visit, Tony Subraj handed over 12 human corneal tissues to the Department of Ophthalmology for the transplant surgeries.
Twelve fortunate patients were able to benefit from corneal transplants which were done at the GPHC.
The Subraj team was unable to arrange a corneal transplant surgeon during this visit. The result is that nine of the 12 transplants were done by Dr. Sugrim, who worked along with his local team of nurses in the Ophthalmology theatre.
Dr. Sugrim is the arguably the first Guyanese Ophthalmic Surgeon to have completed a corneal transplant in Guyana. He was trained during the previous visits made by the team in June and October 2015 by Corneal Specialists from the United States – Dr. Stephen Waller and Dr. Joseph Pasternak.
Two of the transplants were voluntarily done by Dr. Ajit Kumar of the Woodlands Hospital and the final transplant was done on a child by visiting surgeon from the United Kingdom, Dr. Chad Rostron. At the end of this third Corneal Mission, in total, the Subraj Foundation has given its support for the completion of 31 corneal transplants.
Corneal transplant surgeries cannot be performed without donor corneas, Dr. Sugrim recently explained. “Corneas need to be donated by relatives of deceased donors and are carefully preserved for use by eye banks,” he noted.
Dr. Waller, a surgeon with remarkable experience and who has worked in many countries worldwide, is the coordinating surgeon who has been working dedicatedly over the past few months in the United States to procure corneas to bring to Guyana. He is a strong advocate for the establishment of an Eye Bank in Guyana, Dr. Sugrim revealed.
In order to further advance the eye care programme here, Dr. Sugrim revealed that the GPHC has granted approval for one of its local eye surgeons, Dr. Celeste Hinds, to proceed on a three-month Cornea Fellowship training.
Upon her return, Dr. Surgrim said, the Department of Ophthalmology plans to proceed with pursuing the laying of the groundwork for establishing an eye bank in Guyana. “We pay homage to the great contribution of the late George Subraj and express gratitude on behalf of the patients who were operated upon,” said Dr. Sugrim even as he added, “GPHC is extremely proud to have been able to host this group at the hospital once again.”

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