“Full corneal transplant just replaces the central 8 millimetres,” Jurkunas says. But injury or infection can deplete those stem cells, taking away an otherwise healthy cornea’s capacity to heal and causing it to turn opaque, blocking vision.ĭamaged corneas can be replaced, but without stem cells to replenish the epithelium, the transplant will deteriorate in a similar way over time. These cells give rise to an epithelial layer that protects and supports the cornea (see ‘Inside the cornea’). In a healthy eye, the cornea is surrounded by the limbus, a structure that contains corneal epithelial stem cells. Although these therapies will not reverse all cases of blindness, they could go a long way towards restoring some vision to many people. Other researchers are trying to regenerate cells in the retina - the main light-sensing part of the eye - to treat other common causes of blindness such as age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma. Jurkunas’s study is one of several taking place worldwide that use stem cells to repair damaged corneas. It is surgically accessible, and physicians can easily monitor how well treatments are working. The eye is fertile ground for stem-cell therapies. In low- and middle-income countries, a leading cause of corneal blindness is trachoma, an infectious disease caused by a bacterium. “It could be infections and it could be congenital disease,” she says. But there are plenty of other ways in which this transparent cover on the front of the eye can be damaged.
SAVAGE SCAFFOLD TRIAL
He is one of 13 participants in an early-stage clinical trial at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, a hospital and research centre in Boston, that is using stem cells from an individual’s healthy eye to repair their damaged cornea.įireworks are a common cause of injuries to the cornea, says Ula Jurkunas, an eye surgeon who is leading the research. One year on, Kharufeh’s eyesight is on the way to returning to what he hopes will be something close to normal, thanks in part to an experimental stem-cell treatment. With that news, the 23-year-old began to face the prospect of living with just one eye, and tried to accept that his dream of becoming a commercial pilot was probably over. At the hospital, doctors told him his eyelid, cornea and lens had been burnt beyond saving, and that he was not a good candidate for a corneal transplant. A large rocket, instead of flying skywards, hit the ground and exploded, shooting a burning fragment into his face and immediately blinding him in his left eye. Nick Kharufeh celebrated US Independence Day last year with his family, by setting off fireworks outside his aunt’s home in Rialto, California. Credit: John Earle Photography for Massachusetts Eye and Ear Ula Jurkunas (front) is an eye surgeon at Massachusetts Eye and Ear in Boston.
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