Cornea Working for 123 Years

An 80-year-old man in Oslo, Norway can still see with a 123-year-old transplanted cornea, although his vision is no longer great. Bernt Aune received the transplant in 1958. The donor was a man born in 1885!

“I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the oldest living organ in the world,” eye doctor Hasan Hasanain at Namsos hospital told the Norwegian daily Verdens Gang.

In the 1950s, doctors expected it to work for just five years, Hasanain said. Such cornea operations date back to the early 20th century and were among the first successful transplants.

“It wasn’t unusual to use corneas from elderly people who had died,” Aune said.

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(image credit: Wikipedia)