Stem Cell Treatment Restores Sight To Partially Blind Man
Stem cells grown on a special membrane were used to treat the
patient and seven others with sight loss
A
man who was partially blinded when ammonia was squirted in his eye during an
attack 15 years ago has regained his sight after receiving a pioneering stem cell treatment.
Russell
Turnbull, 38, suffered massive damage to his right eye when he was caught in a
scuffle after a night out in Newcastle in 1994. On the bus home, Turnbull had
tried to intervene in a fight between two men but was injured when one of them
began squirting passengers with ammonia.
The
chemical severely scarred Turnbull's cornea, the clear membrane that covers the
front of the eye, and destroyed stem cells that usually help keep the cornea
healthy.
"I
was in unbearable pain. It burned my eye shut," Turnbull told the
Guardian. "I was in hospital for two weeks and eventually I was able to
open the eye again. It was like looking through scratched perspex."
Turnbull
was left with "limbal stem cell deficiency" (LSCD), a condition that
seriously impairs sight, and was in pain every time he blinked or saw bright
lights.
In
an experimental treatment devised by doctors at the North East England
Stem Cell Institute in Newcastle, stem cells were taken from Turnbull's
healthy eye and grown on a layer of amniotic tissue, which is routinely used as
a burn dressing. The NHS banks amniotic sacs donated by women who have had a
Caesarean section.
When
the cells had covered the membrane, a piece the size of a postage stamp was
transplanted onto Turnbull's damaged eye. Two months later the membrane had
broken down, leaving his damaged eye with a fresh supply of healthy stem cells,
which repaired the cornea.
Eye
tests six months after surgery showed that Turnbull's vision was nearly as good
as it had been before the attack.
"I
had a lot of anger inside me for a long time after the attack. I lost my job
because of it and I had always been a keen jet skier, which I wasn't able to
do. It ruined my life and I went through a really difficult time. But then this
treatment came along," said Turnbull.
"The
pain and discomfort were better almost immediately and I started to get my
sight back a month or so later. I used to be able to see only the largest
letter at the top of the eye chart, but now I can pick out letters on the
bottom row," he added.
Doctors
led by Majlinda Lako and Francisco Figueiredo treated seven other patients, all
of whom had LSCD in one eye. Some of the patients fully regained their
eyesight, while others had more serious damage and experienced only limited
improvement in their vision.
Sajjad
Ahmad, a member of the team, said 25 more patients will be treated before the
results are submitted to Britain's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), which
could approve the procedure for use in the NHS next year.
Source: The Guardian
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