A 14-year-old boy has almost completely recovered his vision thanks to application of the first gene therapy to a minor in it Bascom Palmer Eye Institute de Miami (Florida)considered the best eye hospital in the United States.
Antonio Vento has suffered from a strange disease known as dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa.
It is a rare disorder that only affects half a million people worldwide and that, in the case of Vento, not only affected his skin with the formation of “scar tissue”but also to the eyes, explained Antonio Sabater, the ophthalmologist surgeon at Bascom Palmer Eye responsible for the boy’s therapy.
The doctors of the aforementioned hospital, dependent on the Health System of the University of Miami (UM) and Miller School of MedicineThey came to perform two eye surgeries over time, but after three or four months the scar tissue reproduced again due to the lack of collagen production.
“After the second surgery we decided not to operate again, wait for another option to emerge for Antonio”Sabater continued. This opportunity began to materialize when they learned that the topical treatment applied to the skin was working very well.