Recent advances in treatment for blindness

Human Cadavers Offer potential treatment for blindness.

A recent study from Stem Cell Reports https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.2020.12.007
Found that Healthy retinal Pigment Epithelial cells implanted beneath the macula of blind monkeys
restored at least some vision without serious or deadly side effects.
The Retinal Pigmented Epithelium or RPE is a central part of the macula which functions to capture
central vision in our eyes. RPE dysfunction is associated with several eye disorders including Age Related
Macular Degeneration, which affects 200 million people or more worldwide leading to vision loss or
blindness. The study suggests that Human cadaver donor cells can be safely transplanted beneath the
macula in monkeys they appear to partially replace host RPE function. The Transplanted RPE placed
under primate macula’s remained stable for at least 3 months according to the study.
This suggests that RPE transplants could be a possible treatment for macular degeneration.
More research is needed to find out whether RPE derived from human cadavers can restore any vision in
human patients.

Author

Domenico Rinaldi, OD Dr. Rinaldi received a BA in Biology from Whittier College and went on to receive a doctorate in Optometry from the Southern California College of Optometry. Dr. Rinaldi completed his rotations at Ocular disease intense sites, including several Local Veteran Hospitals (LA ambulatory and Long beach VAs), and has worked with Ophthalmology co-managements helping to diagnose Retinal detachments, Diabetic Retinopathy and Age-Related Macular Degeneration, his studies and interest are in ocular health and vision preservation. Dr. Rinaldi strives to make every patient's experience fantastic. "Patient satisfaction and education is the most important aspect of my office visits, I believe it is important that my patients understand how their eyes function and walk away feeling empowered to protect the health/clarity of their vision."