Manuel B Datiles,
National Institutes of Health, USA
Title: Use of autologous serum eye drops for the dry and inflammed eye in severe ocular graft versus host disease
Biography
Biography: Manuel B Datiles,
Abstract
Recently, hematopoetic stem cell transplant (formerly called Bone Marrow Transplant) has become an increasingly successful treatment not only for blood cancers but also for auto immune disorders and solid organ cancers. However, the main long term side effect is chronic graft versus host disease, wherein the donor t-cells are dysregulated and cause varying degrees of inflammation and scar formation in various tissues in the body, including eye and skin. In most cases,the inflammation is successfully controlled by steroids and anti T cell treatments. However, some patients experience severe GVHD which respond poorly to steroids and other treatments. We are currently conducting an FDA approved randomized double masked placebo controlled clinical trial of Autologous serum eye drops for severe ocular graft versus host disease in hematopoetic stem cell transplant. We would like to share experiences in developing the clinical protocol including various clinical tests of the ocular surface of the eye and dry eye questionnaires, and dealing with problems associated with drawing blood in these very ill patients as well as a preliminary analysis of data.
