Sarah,
I just read an article on Apple News that covered this and shared a link to
the and paper. I was appalled! I am aware of FDA clinical trials in
progress for treating subjects with Dry AMD injecting stem cells below the
photoreceptors at the level of the damaged/missing RPE. However, this is
the first time I have heard that anyone would consider doing an
intravitreal injection allowing the stem cells to proliferate unbound. The
subsequent visual outcomes for the patients are really tragic to hear
about, especially considering that both eyes were treated.
*Amy Désirée Goldstein, CRA, OCT-C*
Ophthalmic Photographer
Byers Eye Institute
Stanford Health Care
2452 Watson Court
Palo Alto, CA 94303
(650)723-6995
agoldstein@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Thu, Mar 16, 2017 at 1:03 PM, Egnatz, Thomas <tegnatz@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Sarah,
I think these investigators attended the Close Cover Before Striking
Medical Research institute.
Tom
------------------------------
*From:* optimal-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <optimal-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on
behalf of Sarah Moyer <smoyer@xxxxxxxxx>
*Sent:* Thursday, March 16, 2017 2:18 PM
*To:* optimal@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [optimal] Stem Cell Clinics
Today I learned about adverse reactions happening at stem-cell clinics
from the attached paper (summary below). I haven't seen any of these cases
myself. Have any of you seen other cases of this? I was oblivious to these
clinics even existing until today...
Sarah
Paper Summary: Adipose tissue–derived “stem cells” have been increasingly
used by “stem-cell clinics” in the United States and elsewhere to treat a
variety of disorders. We evaluated three patients in whom severe bilateral
visual loss developed after they received intravitreal injections of
autologous adipose tissue–derived “stem cells” at one such clinic in the
United States. In these three patients, the last documented visual acuity
on the Snellen eye chart before the injection ranged from 20/30 to 20/200.
The patients’ severe visual loss after the injection was associated with
ocular hypertension, hemorrhagic retinopathy, vitreous hemorrhage, combined
traction and rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, or lens dislocation. After
1 year, the patients’ visual acuity ranged from 20/200 to no light
perception.
