In Memoriam – Dr Stefano Pintucci
August 8, 2008 by JMP
Dr Stefano Pintucci was the director of the non-profit Oftalma Association of Rome, well known for having improved the artificial cornea. Stefano Pintucci was born in Rome on 14.07.1959. He graduated in Medicine in 1984 at the age of 24 years from the Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”.
He then undertook residency in ophthalmology and wrote his experimental thesis on the “Immunohistochemical characteristics of the relationships between ocular melanomas, the optic nerve and the neuroendocrine system, supervised by Professor Giuseppe Scuderi. Work from the thesis was extensively published in the journal of Clinical and Pathological Ophthalmology.
Throughout his residency Stefano was in the top third of his class, and he completed his residency in 1988 with his thesis on “A study of the biocompatibility and design of a new type of keratoprosthesis, using an electron microscope in vivo and in vitro”. This study is one of the most cited publications in the area of keratoprostheses.
In his career, as well as being an expert ophthalmologist and surgeon, Dr Pintucci was a very active researcher, developing new keratoprosthesis, in particular new and improved designs for an artificial cornea. He held 19 patents in the area.
In 2005 Dr Pintucci wrote:
“In the last 21 years, the Pintucci KP has been implanted in 1,128 eyes in Europe, Asia, India and Africa, under different socioeconomic conditions. Functional results have been successful. More than half of the patients obtained enough visual acuity to be independent, and nearly one-quarter of them improved to 20/30 or better. Visual field is not limited because of the improved Pintucci KP optics. The Pintucci KP has overcome many of the difficulties presented by mechanical anchorage and biointegratability of keratoprostheses.” (Ocular Surgery News)
Italian news reported on Bruno Modonutti, a patient who was blind in both eyes. He was operated on in 2000 by Dr Pintucci, who restored sight in one eye. Bruno, age 60, went on in 2005 to participate in the Italian National Bocce Championships.
Stefano Pintucci was internationally recognized with almost 100 invited presentations at national and international conferences, and he received a number of awards in Italy and Europe for his work. He was an active member of the professional community, being a member of the Italian society of ophthalmology; the Italian ocular prosthesis association; the ophthalmology society of France; the Italian and European societies of biomaterials; the American Academy if Ophthalmology; the Italian society of paediatric ophthalmology; the International Society of Refractive Surgery; and the KPro Study Group. He published 113 refereed papers.
Comments
Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
