Scientists from the United States and China have developed a revolutionary new form of cataract surgery using stem cells. The procedure uses a patient’s own stem cells to restore vision in babies with a congenital birth defect that causes cataracts.
This type of cataract surgery using stem cells may also be useful for treating millions of older people who have developed cataracts. The findings were published this week in the journal Nature.
The project was a combined effort between researchers from the University of California San Diego and various research centres in China. This form of cataract surgery using stem cells is far less invasive than traditional treatments and will speed up recovery times significantly.
Cataracts are very common in older people and occur when the lens inside the eye is slowly covered by an opaque film. This film causes vision to become blurry and can eventually lead to blindness.
The traditional type of surgery used to treat cataracts involves making an incision in the eye and replacing the lens with an artificial one.
The new treatment uses a very slim incision and while still removing the lens, it retains the empty capsule bag. This retains certain stem cells, called endogenous stem/progenitor cells. Leaving these stem cells intact allows the body to regrow a healthy new lens.
The old method destroys most of the stem cells in this part of the eye and is fairly invasive. This new form of cataract surgery using stem cells has a much smaller incision and fast recovery rate.
The procedure has been tested on 12 babies who were born with the congenital defect that causes cataracts. The stem cells rapidly regrow lenses in the baby’s eyes and restored their vision. It is important to repair the cataracts as quickly as possible in babies with this condition, because the brain does not develop normally if the eyes cannot see.
This new treatment could help millions of people with cataracts restore their eyesight with less invasive surgery.
Source: First-of-its-kind Cataract Surgery Using Stem Cells Shows Promise
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