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A new type of stem cell treatment appears to be a safe option for people with limbal stem cell deficiency, a condition that can lead to painful ulcers, clouding of the cornea and blindness.

New Treatment for Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency

Chemical burns and accidents can lead to a condition called limbal stem cell deficiency. Overwearing contacts, multiple eye operations and inflammatory conditions can cause this as well.

The stem cells are from the limbus, a zone of tissue around the cornea that generates transparent cells that protect and heal the eye’s surface.

The new procedure known as cultivated autologous limbal epithelial cell, or CALEC, transplantation is considered safe. In a Phase 1 trial, four patients who had chemical burns in one eye underwent CALEC transplants.

That only one eye is injured is important for the procedure. It involves removing stem cells from the patient’s healthy eye, cultivating them in the laboratory for two or three weeks and then transplanting them into the damaged eye. Once they have been transplanted, it takes time for the cells to grow, so researchers followed the patients for a year.

The results were published in “Science Advances.”

What is Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency?

Limbal stem cell deficiency is a condition that results from failure in limbal cells to properly repair and regenerate the surface of the cornea. This can lead to thinning, painful ulceration, opacity in the cornea, and eventually, possibly blindness.

Causes of the condition range from the following:

• Chemical and thermal burns
• Chemotherapy
• Ocular surgery
• Radiation
• Toxins
• Trauma

Limbal stem cell deficiency is one of the main causes of corneal blindness, which affects six million people worldwide.

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