Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/reel/DH9UqL2spnA/Cells taken from the edge of a healthy cornea can become a magic bullet to repair a previously considered irreparable cornea in the opposite eye.  Ophthalmologists at Harvard’s Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary developed what they term the CALEC procedure, an acronym for Cultivated Autologous Limbal Epithelial Cells.  The limbal region of the cornea contains stem cells that constantly renew the corneal surface.  These cells are harvested and grown out into a tissue graft in a laboratory at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.  The graft is then implanted in the diseased eye.The researchers report their preliminary trial of 14 patients in the journal Nature Communications.  The procedure boasts a 93% success rate for significant corneal repair with 79% of the subjects enjoying complete restoration of their injured corneas by 1 year postoperatively.After additional trials are complete, this procedure will be ready to restore sight in eyes once considered hopeless