A new cornea may be the only way to prevent a patient going blind – but there is a shortage of donated corneas and the queue for transplantation is long. Scientists at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have for the first time successfully cultivated stem cells on human corneas, which may in the long term remove the need for donators.
Approximately 500 corneal transplantations are carried out each year in Sweden, and about 100,000 in the world. The damaged and cloudy cornea that is turning the patient blind is replaced with a healthy, transparent one. But the procedure requires a donated cornea, and there is a severe shortage of donated material. This is particularly the case throughout the world, where religious or political views often hinder the use of donated material.
Replacing donated corneas
First time ever on human corneas
Few clinics conduct transplants
The article "Transplantation of human embryonic stem cells onto a partially wounded human cornea in vitro" was published in Acta Ophthalmologica on 27 January.
Link to the article: http://bit.ly/xm3SeM
Acta Ophthalmologica