After eye surgery on blind bird, hopes soar

HOLLYWOOD — 

The patient arrived in a cage, feathers ruffled, blind in both eyes. 

Medically, the challenge was unprecedented. But the surgeon did not blink. 

In a delicate, microscopic procedure that may have been the first of its kind, veterinary ophthalmologist Robert Swinger stitched tiny pieces of pig bladder onto the ruptured corneas of a great blue heron on Thursday in an effort to restore the bird's sight. 

"It was stressful, and there was not a lot of room for error," said Swinger, 35, after a tedious two-hour operation on the leggy, anesthetized wading bird at the Hollywood Animal Hospital. "But the patient was excellent. I think it went well." 

The bird — North America's largest heron, common throughout the Florida along shores and in wetlands — became the guinea pig for groundbreaking eye surgery after it was found in Lake Worth two weeks ago, too weak to stand and with ulcers in both eyes. 

Continued: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/fl-bird-eye-surgery-20130314,0,5054463.story