Groundbreaking treatment helps repair vision after eye injury

In a groundbreaking study, researchers have succeeded in improving the vision of four patients with significant chemical burns in one eye.

According to the study published in Science Advances, the patients who were followed for 12 months experienced restored cornea surfaces – two could undergo a corneal transplant, and two reported significant improvements in vision without additional treatment.

The improvement is thanks to a revolutionary stem cell treatment called cultivated autologous limbal epithelial cell transplantation (CALEC).

In this approach, stem cells from a patient’s healthy eye are removed and then expanded and grown on a graft. After two to three weeks, the graft is transplanted into the eye with corneal damage.

‘Our early results suggest that CALEC might offer hope to patients who had been left with untreatable vision loss and pain associated with major cornea injuries,’ said the study’s principal investigator Dr Ula Jurkunas.

‘Cornea specialists have been hindered by a lack of treatment options with a high safety profile to help our patients with chemical burns and injuries that render them unable to get an artificial cornea transplant. We are hopeful with further study, CALEC can one day fill this crucially needed treatment gap.’

People who experience chemical burns and other eye injuries may develop limbal stem cell deficiency, an irreversible loss of cells on the tissue surrounding the cornea.

These patients experience permanent vision loss, pain and discomfort in the affected eye. Without limbal cells and a healthy eye surface, patients are unable to undergo artificial cornea transplants, the current standard for restoring vision.

The new method aims to address limitations in existing treatment by using a small amount of a patient’s own stem cells that can then be grown and expanded to create a sheet of cells that serves as a surface for normal tissue to grow back.

According to the authors, no US research team had successfully developed a manufacturing process and quality control tests that met US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements or showed any clinical benefit.

The first patient treated in the study, a 46-year-old male, experienced a resolution of his eye surface defect, which primed him to undergo an artificial cornea transplant for vision rehabilitation.

The second, a 31-year-old male, experienced his vision improving from 20/40 to 20/30.

The third, a 36-year-old male, had his corneal defect resolved and his vision improved from only being able to see broad movements like waving to 20/30 vision.

The fourth, a 52-year-old male, initially did not have a successful biopsy that resulted in a viable stem cell graft. After re-attempting CALEC three years later, he underwent a successful transplant and his vision improved to be able to count fingers. He then received an artificial cornea.

Studies like this show the promise of cell therapy for treating incurable conditions.

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