Eye patients may go blind
Thirteen people who suffered eye infections after undergoing cataract surgery are in danger of losing some of their vision or going blind, doctors said yesterday. The 13 originally underwent surgery at a private clinic in Serres, northern Greece, on June 22 and 23 but complained of complications soon afterward. They were diagnosed as having contracted endophthalmitis, an inflammation of the internal tissues of the eye. All the patients were taken to the AHEPA Hospital in Thessaloniki where they were operated on for a second time. «The patients underwent a second operation in an effort to combat the bacteria but all of them will suffer some loss of vision to a lesser or greater degree,» the hospital’s deputy director, Katerina Karatasou, told Kathimerini, adding that five of the 13 are in serious condition. The Health Ministry has ordered the clinic to stop all surgery pending the completion of an investigation into how the patients were infected.
