Repairing Damaged Corneas With Stem Cells

From Boston’s Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary comes the report of an exciting Phase 1 trial using an patient’s own eye stem cells to repair a chemically burned cornea. In this preliminary study of the so-called CALEC procedure which stands for cultivated autologous limbal epithelial cell transplantation, 4 patients with burned corneas each received stem cells from their own cornea limbus following cultivation and amplification of cell numbers in tissue cultures. The limbus is a stem cell rich zone between the corneal edge and the white sclera that normally produces enough new cells to effect repairs without assistance. Chemically burned limbal zones do not. Two of the patients enjoyed sufficient corneal regrowth that they required no further therapy. The other two had sufficient corneal repair to become candidates for corneal transplants. Studies are now underway on 15 additional patients as the next step toward offering this option to even more patients….someday soon.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adg6470

#cornea #chemicalburns #cornealtransplantation #limbus #stemcells #ophthalmology