The placenta is a unique organ that functions only in a woman’s body and only during pregnancy. The function of the placenta is to ensure the vital activity of the unborn baby. But back in the 5th century BC, long before the discovery of stem cells and important growth factors in the placenta, the father of medicine, Hippocrates, used placenta tissue in the treatment of wounds.
The Institute of Cell Therapy has techniques for manufacturing cryopreserved human amniotic membrane preparations obtained from the placenta. Researchers of the Institute of Cell Therapy jointly with scientists of the Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases and Tissue Therapy developed a method of surgical treatment of corneal inflammation (keratitis) with the use of the amniotic membrane of the placenta. And on October 18, 2023 at the Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases and Tissue Therapy a combined operation was performed on the left eye of a soldier, born in 1998, because of a gunshot corneoscleral wound of the left eye with shedding of membranes.
Surgical treatment using cryopreserved amniotic membrane was performed by Professor Drozzhyna GI, Dr Ivanova OM, Dr Petretska OS. Dr Tychyna NP. The preparation of cryopreserved amniotic membrane for the defender of Ukraine from donor placenta was produced by the Cryobank of the Institute of Cell Therapy.
At the time of discharge, according to the ophthalmological examination, the patient’s condition of the left eye improved: amniotic membrane graft on the cornea was viable, retina attachment was marked, visual acuity improved – signs of light perception appeared.
Scientists of the Institute of Cell Therapy have also developed a method of treating gunshot and mine-explosive injuries using cryopreserved amniotic membrane obtained from the placenta.