The ophthalmologist and his team have implanted adipose tissue-derived stem cells into human cornea and obtained great results.
Dr. Jorge Alió and his team of professionals have published a detailed article in the North American scientific publication ‘Cornea’ on cell therapy to treat advanced keratoconus. The ADASC technique, which consists of implantation of autologous adipose tissue-derived stem cells into corneal stroma, has been tested on five patients and resulted to be a safe and efficient technique. Stem cells have been obtained from the patient himself through selective liposuction and larger samples are required to confirm these preliminary results.
Imitation of the complex corneal stroma structure is a very difficult process, due to the usage of surrogates that fail to have sufficient transparency and solidity properties. The objective of the study, published in the scientific article and entitled ´Cellular therapy with human autologous adipose-derived with human stem cells for advanced keratoconus’, was to find an alternative therapy to the classic cornea transplantation to regenerate the stroma. In this way, surgery and postoperative complications are avoided, as well as the risk of immunological rejection that might occur after corneal transplantation.
Keratoconus is a progressive eye disease in which the normally round cornea thins and deforms. Alió is one of the most influential specialists in its treatment and has written several publications and books on advances in this field. This pathology is more common than thought, especially in Spain, due to the high incidence of allergies and the climate, which causes more cases. In recent years, keratoconus has become one of the main research areas of corneal surgery because of the large quantity of problems it produces.
Due to the dedication to the subjects of clinical research, in this case in the field of corneal cellular therapy, Jorge Alió was recognized by his colleagues as one of the 50 best doctors in Spain at ‘Top Doctors’ 2016 and one of the 4 most outstanding professionals in the Valencian Community.