Preeti Rathi came to Mumbai to join duty as a nurse in the Naval Hospital — INHS Ashwini. Sadly, her dreams were shattered when she suffered an acid attack at Bandra station as she got off her train. She sustained severe burns to her face, neck, chest and arms and was critical for a few days after admission. Doctors treated her for her injuries but she had lost vision in her right eye. While she subsequently regained consciousness and could communicate only with written notes, she pleaded with the doctors to help restore her vision.
A few years ago this request would have been impossible, but thanks to the latest advances in stem cell therapy it’s now a very feasible possibility. We talked to ophthalmologist Dr Yasmin Bhagat who has treated a number of acid attack victims and helped them regain vision using this procedure. Excerpts from the exclusive interview where she explains the procedure:
At the offset, Dr Bhagat said that the media reports that she was planning to take stem cells from Rathi’sparent’s eyes were erroneous. She said that even though the acid had badly damaged Rathi’s right eye’s cornea, her left eye was still functioning well and that she would use stem cells from that eye.
Pavitra: Why did you decide to use cells from her left eye and not her parents’ eyes to start the treatment?
Dr Yasmin Bhagat: When we perform such a procedure, there are some risks involved. When we use the patient’s own cells we avoid the possibility of any complications that may arise from the rejection of the patch by the body. Even though the cells would be from her parents, there are chances that her body may reject it, therefore it is better to use her own stem cells.
Pavitra: How will this procedure work?
Dr Yasmin Bhagat: Within the eye there is a structure called the Limbus. The Limbus is a narrow zone between the cornea and bulbar conjunctiva, it is responsible for the renewal and repair of the cornea. Burns to this area causes the malfunctioning of the limbus leading to limbal stem-cell deficiency. When the limbus is damaged or malfunctions, instead of helping repair the cornea, it causes the formation of scar tissue, which leads to blurred vision and in extreme cases — blindness. In the case of Preeti, her left eye is completely normal, so we will take limbus cells from her left eye and culture them in a lab. By culture I mean we will grow the cells to multiply them. We will then place a 2×2 mm patch of these cultured stem cells on the damaged area of the eye, which will help the right eye repair itself.
Pavitra: How long will this procedure take?
Dr Yasmin Bhagat: Well, Preeti has to fully recover from her other injuries for us to start the procedure. The harvest and culture of the limbus stem cells alone, will take approximately 15 days after which we can place it on the right eye. Thereafter the recovery time usually depends on the patient’s all-round health. This is a complex procedure and it is necessary to be extremely careful while performing it.
Lastly, while Preeti recuperates in the hospital, she has received immense support from people all over the country.
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