Two patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) who received a new treatment derived from stem cells have regained enough vision to be able to read, thanks to the London Project to Cure Blindness.
AMD is the most common cause of sight loss in the UK, and can lead to a rapid loss of central (reading) vision. The two patients who underwent the procedure, a woman in her early 60s and a man in his 80s, had wet AMD and declining vision and the study investigated whether the diseased cells at the back of the patients’ affected eye could be replenished using the stem cell based patch. A specially engineered surgical tool was used to insert the patch under the retina in the affected eye, in an operation lasting one to two hours.
The patients were monitored for 12 months and reported improvements to their vision. They went from not being able to read at all even with glasses, to reading 60-80 words per minute with normal reading glasses.
For further information, visit the Macular Society website.