New treatment uses stem cells to restore eyesight

May 1 2005

A pioneering new treatment is using stem cells to restore the eyesight of patients.

The Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, has been trialling the treatment and has already helped 40 people see again. The hospital has been developing the surgery over the past five years and uses stem cells taken from the patient or a donor to redevelop the cornea, the transparent film at the front of the eye which lets in light.

Ophthalmic surgeon Sheraz Daya says that many people who have received injuries to their eyes, or even people born with congenital deficiencies of stem cells, end up having a problem with the top layer of their cornea and even if a corneal transplant is done, it will not stay clear and will eventually cloud over and fail. What needs to be done, he says, is to replace those stem cells that are missing.

Deborah Catlyn is one of the 40 people who have had their eyesight restored, blind in one eye from the age of seven, she then became partially-sighted in the other eye after an acid attack in a nightclub.

The treatment at Queen Victoria Hospital has meant Ms Catlyn can see her daughter properly for the first time.