The ICT method is recognized abroad

The well-known international organization ParentsGuidetoCordBlood which promotes awareness of future parents and medical staff about the value of umbilical cord blood and placenta, acknowledged the method of keratitis treatment (inflammation of the cornea) developed by the Institute of Cell Therapy using the amniotic membrane of the placenta. ParentsGuidetoCordBlood also published on its website a scientific article by the team of authors of the Filatov Institute of Ophthalmology and Tissue Therapy of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine (Odessa) and the Institute of Cell Therapy https://parentsguidecordblood.org/en/news/cryopreserved-amniotic-membrane-treatment-keratitis

The Institute of Cell Therapy is not only the first cryobank of umbilical cord blood stem cells, other human cells and tissues in Ukraine, but also a high-tech Center of Science and a modern clinic. In addition to providing the highest level of services for the storage of umbilical cord blood and perinatal tissues (umbilical cord, placenta), specialists of the Institute of Cell Therapy are developing and clinically testing new methods of treatment of socially important diseases using cell and tissue material.

Specialists of the Institute of Cell Therapy (Kyiv) in cooperation with the scientists of the Filatov Institute of Ophthalmology and Tissue Therapy of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine developed a method of surgical treatment of keratitis of infectious and neurotrophic etiology using the amniotic membrane of the placenta.

Keratitis is an inflammatory disease of the cornea (anterior outer transparent surface of the eyeball). Patients with keratitis complain of pain, burning, corneal opacity, ulceration, decreased visual acuity. Due to the shortage of donor corneas, the search for alternative transplants of the outer shell of the eye is an extremely important problem of ophthalmology.

On the base of the State Institution “Filatov Institute of Ophthalmology and Tissue Therapy of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine” (Odessa) a 2-year clinical trial was conducted according to the permission of the Coordination Center for Transplantation of Organs, Tissues and Cells of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. The Institute of Cell Therapy was the developer and manufacturer of placental-derived tissue grafts.

65 patients were treated according to the new technology. Almost 100% of patients had a positive therapeutic effect – reduction of inflammation and pain, almost 40% of patients also managed to improve visual acuity.

A new method of keratitis treatment using the amniotic membrane of the placenta will be more widely implemented in clinical practice.