Italian doctors successfully utilized adult stem cells to restore vision to 77 percent of patients who had previous damage to their corneas caused by burns (industry chemicals, battery acid, firecrackers, boiling liquid, etc.). Vision was restored by taking a small amount of stem cells from a patient’s healthy eye, growing them in a lab environment, and then attaching them to the burned cornea.
The study took place between 1998 and 2007 and involved 112 patients in Italy.
Using stem cells to repair eyes is a relatively new use. Adult stem cells, which are found in the human body and commonly used to treat blood cancers and diseases such as leukemia, are different than embryonic stem cells. Embryos must be destroyed after the stem cells are removed.
The stem cells are extracted from the limbus, which sits below the cornea and covers the sclera, or colored part of the eye. Stem cells in the limbus are constantly being reproduced in order to replace dead corneal cells. When injuries occur to the eye, the stem cells are no longer able to be produced in the limbus and scar tissue then clouds the cornea.
Patients with corneal damage have had very few options. Corneal transplant patients often reject the new cornea (taken from a cadaver), even after taking anti-rejection drugs. With adult stem cells, anti-rejection drugs are not necessary because the stem cells are obtained from the patient.
Patients in the study who had superficial damage to the cornea were able to see within two months while patients whose eyes were more damaged too several months longer. Many patients who regained their vision were unable to see well for many years (in one case since 1948), and many successful stem cell procedures were performed on patients who had previous unsuccessful surgeries on their corneas.
Unfortunately, these procedures may not be as effective on patients with cornea injuries caused by reasons other than burns. The length of time that stem cell cornea patients retained their vision seems to be quite long – up to 10 years and counting for one patient in the Italian study, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The stem cell cornea procedure would not be effective for patients with damage to their retina (ocular degeneration) or optic nerve. The procedure is only being done on an experimental basis in Italy and is currently not available in the U.S. One University of California-Davis ophthalmology professor estimated that it could be 10 years until U.S. patients can receive the procedure, which costs about $20,000-$30,000.
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