A legally blind woman from Baltimore is now able to see again thanks to retinal stem cell surgery. The first stage of this three-stage experimental procedure was performed on her in mid-2014 and has given the woman a new lease on life.

The patient, Vanna Belton, had perfect eye sight until the middle of 2009. One day she noticed her vision was slightly blurry and she assumed she had an eye infection. Within 24-hours she had been checked into a hospital and doctors were frantically attempting to discover the cause her loss of vision. They could not determine the cause and she was eventually classified legally blind.

In 2014, Vanna discovered a clinical trial involving retinal stem cell surgery was going to be conducted by ophthalmologist Dr Jeffrey Weiss. He is a former engineer who has a passion for helping people and solving problems.

He designed this type of retinal stem cell surgery for people who have been told they have no other options for regaining their vision. Dr Weiss says it is suitable for “Patients with untreatable, severe, optic-nerve or retinal conditions that have led to legal blindness or worse.”

There are multiple steps for the surgery, with the initial step involving the extraction of bone marrow from the patient. The stem cells are extracted from the bone marrow and then injected into the eye. So far, 60% of the patients who had the procedure have regained some vision.

Dr Weiss says providing this treatment is extremely rewarding,”This has been the most rewarding part of my entire career in retina, which I’ve been practicing since the early 80’s, because I am treating people who are untreatable. I’m treating only conditions that have no treatment. Patients who have no hope left.”

Vanna is going to receive another treatment in March that could further improve her vision. This type of retinal stem cell surgery takes approximately 2.5 hours to complete and the eyes usually heal with 4 weeks.

Source: Baltimore woman once blind, regains vision after retinal stem cell surgery

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