Harvard Researchers Make Eye Surgery Safer

In an advance that could help boxers and fighting children suffering from eye trauma, Harvard researchers have found a new gene therapy that could prevent the retina from detaching after eye surgery.

The gene therapy combats a disease called proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR), which strikes around ten percent of people who undergo surgery for a detached retina, said Andrius Kazlauskas, an associate professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School.

Kazlauskas is one of the opthamology researchers who developed this new gene therapy.

The retina is the back part of the eye attached to the brain which enables vision.

In eye trauma, the retina can become detached and require surgery.

But in patients who develop PVR, a membrane grows on top of the retina following surgery and contracts, Kazlauskas said.

This membrane pulls the reattached retina off the back of the eye, reversing the effects of the surgery.

In 1998, researchers began trying to determine what genes were involved in this disease, Kazlauskas said.

They found the membrane is caused by growth factors which attach to receptors on cells in the membrane.

Through gene therapy, the researchers manipulated genes to poison the receptors, diminishing membrane growth.

Kazlauskas said the next step will be to compare this gene therapy approach with current drug therapy.

Retinal surgeons will eventually be able to administer the most effective therapy to people, diminishing the chance of PVR development.

“[We] learned a tremendous amount about the challenges and the potential of developing gene therapy approaches,” Kazlauskas said.