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A Woman From Mexico Undergoes Succcessful Laser Artificial Corneal...

Novel Eye Surgeon, Dr. Ming Wang announces today that he successfully performed a Laser Artificial Corneal Implantation on Maria Saldierna of Mexico due to the giving heart of Nashville citizens and the Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration.



At age 52, Maria Saldierna suffered from vision loss due to failed corneal transplants over many years. Her doctors in Mexico have operated on her many times and, several years ago, Maria was told that she would not have vision in her left eye again, and that she was no longer a candidate for any sight restoration surgeries.



Determined, Maria sought the assistance of her daughter who lives in the United States, and they looked there desperately for eye surgeons who could help Maria. Due to the fact that Maria has had multiple failed corneal transplants, most of the eye doctors that they consulted with in US told them the same thing: Maria's8217;s blindness is irreversible and no technology could help her.



Maria had no hope of regaining vision in her blind left eye until she heard about Dr. Ming Wang, M.D., Ph.D., from Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Wang has been conducting research and development of new eye reconstructive surgeries to restore sight in terminally corneal blind patients such as Maria.



Regaining hope for vision, Maria came to Nashville in early 2005 and met Dr. Wang, the internationally renowned eye reconstructive surgeon, at the Wang Vision Institute. After extensive testing and examination, Dr. Wang felt that Maria may have a chance to see again in her blind left eye with the help of the new femtosecond laser artificial cornea implantation which he developed and performed for the first time in the world a year prior to meeting her.



Patients like Maria are considered irreversibly corneally blind because traditional surgeries such as human corneal transplantation offer significant chance of repeat rejection. In early 2004, Dr. Ming Wang, Clinical Associate Professor of Ophthalmology of the University of Tennessee, Attending Surgeon at Saint Thomas Hospital and Director of Wang Vision Institute, developed a new surgery to restore vision in such terminally corneal blind eyes: femtosecond laser artificial cornea implantation, and he performed the world's8217;s first such procedure in 2004 which restored vision in a 45-year-old man who had been blind for over three decades.



For Maria, this eye reconstructive surgery is a miracle from God and she was very excited at the new prospect of vision. However, Maria has no medical insurance and the surgery is expensive. Dr. Wang offered to perform the surgery and care free of charge, but there are substantial hospital costs involved and Maria and her family could not come up with the resources needed, so they had to postpone the surgery.



Dr. Wang informed Maria about a charitable non-profit organization that he founded which may be able to help Maria, the Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration. The foundation was established to offer financial assistance to patients like Maria who have come from various parts of the world and who need these innovative new eye surgeries but lack the financial resources. To date, the foundation has received requests for help from patients from over 55 countries. All foundation doctors, including Dr. Wang, provide surgeries and care free of charge.



In December of 2005, after the foundation's8217;s annual fundraiser, the Eye Ball, Dr. Wang was elated to inform Maria that the foundation had raised enough funds to help her, notably from a major grant from Nashville's8217;s Pickle Foundation. In addition, Saint Thomas Hospital also stepped in and waived 80% of Maria's8217;s hospital costs.



For information about the surgery and the non-profit charitable foundation for sight restoration, please call Alanna J. Napier at 615-480-3816 or visit www.wangfoundation, www.wangvisioninstitute.com.

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