A medical team at King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital successfully performed two surgeries to treat neurotrophic keratitis. The surgeries relied on transferring a nerve from the foot and connecting it to a healthy nerve in the eye orbit. By these two surgeries, the hospital has achieved both a new accomplishment for the Kingdom at the medical level and its uniqueness at the Middle East level.

These two rare surgeries come as a result of global partnership programs and international cooperation between the hospital and globally advanced centers in ophthalmology. They are also a result of transferring global experiences, drawing on expertise, training doctors in the hospital, and localizing the latest modern treatment methods to serve the patients in the Kingdom and receive treatment services and technologies comparable to the world’s largest hospitals specialized in ophthalmology.

The medical team was able to perform the surgeries for two Saudi patients with corneal sensory nerve loss. This led to recurring scratches and infections on the corneal surface, which negatively affected the vision. With the participation of a global specialist in oculoplastic surgery from the United States of America, a nerve from the foot was transferred and connected with a healthy sensory nerve in the eye orbit during the surgeries. After that, the corneal sensation will be gradually improved within 3 to 12 months. Consequently, the incidence of corneal infections and scratches will be reduced, and the condition progression and decrease in vision will be stopped.

This surgery is one of several rare surgeries performed by King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital. This reflects the enormous development of the hospital and its use of the most up-to-date treatment technologies in the world and the excellence of the medical and research teams. It is worth noting that King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital is one of the best specialist hospitals in the world according to Newsweek’s list that was recently published. 

King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital participated in the Artificial Intelligence World Summit at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh, by a joint project with “SDAIA” which is represented by the National Center for Artificial Intelligence, and the Ministry of Health which is represented by the Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence, the Saudi Company for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI) and Leen company. This is the first project at the national level; the development of an imaging device for early diagnosis of diabetes complications on the retina by only using artificial intelligence algorithms without human intervention. The CEO of the hospital, Dr. Abdulaziz AlRajhi, explained that this project comes within the framework of contributing to harnessing artificial intelligence technology to provide innovative solutions to raise the efficiency of providing healthcare to patients using the highest advanced technologies in the field of ophthalmology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Dr. AlRajhi indicated that the project contains a modern, high-tech device that keeps pace with the knowledge shift in artificial intelligence technology to serve the patients and to provide early diagnosis.

The project contains a camera that takes a picture of the retina of the eye, and using artificial intelligence algorithms, it shows if the patient has complications of diabetes. In the next phase of the project, the severity and status of complications will be diagnosed and categorized, then each of case will be referred to the right specialized clinic. He pointed out that the service does not necessarily require to be available in hospitals and health centers, however, it can be provided in commercial centers by allocating a room in which the device is placed and the patient uses it without the need for an appointment. The fundus of the eye is photographed and the diagnosis is provided within minutes, this will save time for the patient, reduce the cost of diagnosis, and reduce the need for healthcare cadre who are basically limited.

The consultant ophthalmologist and medical supervisor of the project, Dr. Oday AlOwaifeer, confirmed that the innovative tool for detecting diabetic retinopathy has been fully developed locally by national competencies.

A medical team from King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital has succeeded in performing two surgeries for the treatment of neurotrophic keratitis. This surgery depends on transferring a nerve from the leg and connecting it to a healthy sensory nerve in the eye. This is a new achievement for the Kingdom at the medical level and it shows its uniqueness at the level of the Middle East countries.

These two rare surgeries are as a result of global partnerships programs, international cooperation between the hospital and the world advanced medical centers in the field of ophthalmology, sharing global experiences, training physicians at the hospital, and localizing the latest modern treatment methods to serve the patients in the Kingdom in order to receive health services and treatment techniques comparable to the largest international hospitals specialized in ophthalmology.

The medical team has performed the surgery for two Saudi male patients suffering from corneal sensitivity nerve damage, which caused repeated scratches and infections in the cornea that affected the vision negatively. During the two surgeries, with the participation of an expert from the United States of America in the field of oculoplastic surgery, a nerve was transferred from the leg and connected to a healthy sensory nerve in the eye, to gradually regain the sensation of the cornea within 3 to 12 months. Therefore, corneal infections and scratches, worsening of patient condition and vision deterioration will be decreased or prevented.

This surgery is one of the rare surgeries performed at King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, which reflects the great development the hospital is witnessing, the use of the latest treatment technologies in the world, the excellence of the medical and research team. It is worth mentioning that King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital is one of the best specialized hospitals in the world, according to the recently issued Newsweek magazine list.

The agreement aims to develop the joint work, enhance efforts and exchange expertise in the fields of learning, training, scientific research and publishing, fellowship programs, clinical collaboration, and reinforce the efforts made to launch national programs for blind prevention.

The Hospital is continuously developing its services, seek for collaboration with other entities to strengthen efforts and expertise in all field serve our patients and visitors.

KKESH is one of the top hospitals mentioned in Newsweek magazine (www.newsweek.com). The list included the top specialized hospitals such as oncology, Gynecology, pediatrics, cardiology and ophthalmology. KKESH is proud to be the only ranked hospital in ophthalmology field around Arab countries and Middle East countries.

King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital has joined “Be My Eyes” platform. It’s a global platform that aims to provide assistance to the blind or visually impaired. The hospital aims to join the platform to raise the level of services that provided to visitors and patients, to improve patient experience of the blind or visually impaired, and to achieve easy accessibility.

King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital is the first Arab medical facility join "Be My Eyes" platform with world-leading organizations such as Google, Microsoft and P&G.

The platform combines the power of technology and human communication to deliver assistance to the blind or visually impaired through live video calls, where volunteers provide blind and visually impaired users with assistance. The hospital has allocated a trained team of volunteers for responding and communication to provide the service. The platform operates according to an advanced technical system, where it receives requests from the blind and visually impaired then transfers them to volunteers, based on the language and geographic area. The volunteer responds to the request and communicates with the specified user and receives a live video call through the back camera of the users’ smartphone, guide and provides support and information to him. Be My Eyes is available on iOS and Android devices.

We are proud that we are the largest medical facility supplies the country with ophthalmic consultants and we are glad to renew the institutional accreditation of the hospital as a centre for postgraduate training programs by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties. The institutional and program accreditation of the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties aims to harness all the administrative, educational and clinical capabilities of the training centres for the purposes of training in professional health postgraduate programs (General specialty certificate, fellowship of subspecialty or health professional diploma) supervised by the Commission, which results in the provision of a distinguished educational environment for trainers and trainees based on the foundations of health education, so that the trainee can obtain higher training that qualifies him for safe professional practice in his field of specialization.

King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital launched several initiatives in conjunction with the World Sight Day under the slogan "Love Your Eyes".

The initiatives included conducting 50 surgeries during the last Wednesday and Thursday in Al-Jouf region to reduce waiting lists in the region, in addition to a campaign to examine craftsmen in cooperation with the Heritage Authority and a number of awareness and educational programs for all segments of society.

Dr. Abdulaziz bin Ibrahim AlRajhi, KKESH CEO, confirmed that the hospital annually implements many initiatives and programs that contribute to awareness, education and promotion of the preventive aspect to maintain eye health and prevent blindness, in addition to its programs to perform surgical operations in different regions of the Kingdom, starting from the hospital’s mission and role in developing medical cooperation with different sectors, expanding the provision of medical services and reaching the patient at his residence through qualitative programs that shorten procedures and save time for the patient and reduce waiting lists.

He indicated that Al-Jouf campaign was succeeded in performing 50 cataract surgeries, and conducting a number of awareness and educational programs with the support of Elaji Charity and in cooperation with King Abdulaziz Specialist Hospital in Al-Jouf and the General Directorate of Health Affairs in Al-Jouf. The campaign aims to reduce waiting lists in the region, reach patients at their residence and shorten procedures and save time.

King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital participated in the 39^th ESCRS conference held in Amsterdam for Cataract and Refractive Surgeries. The conference presents the latest scientific developments in this field. KKESH participated in a special booth to display the most prominent medical technologies and capabilities, which reflect the Kingdom's progress in ophthalmology field.