Patient Relations
If you suffer from dry eye syndrome, you may already be familiar with the frustration of trying to manage the symptom of a shortage of tears. The Eye Bank at Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare (JHAH) has introduced the Autologous Serum Eye Drops, a therapeutic solution for patients experiencing severely dry eyes that are not responsive to usual treatments or those with a non-healing cornea. JHAH ophthalmologist Dr. Ashbala Khattak shed light on the procedure:
Our tears are made of four main components; water, oils, mucus, and antibodies, which keep the eyes moist and maintain our vision and comfort. Dry eyes happen when the tear system does not produce a good quality or enough tears to keep the eyes moist. This leads to inflammation and could damage the surface of the eye.
Our plasma contains nutrients and growth factors that promote ocular surface healing, normally found in healthy tears. The autologous serum eye drops are made from the patient’s own blood by separating the cells from the plasma and. After blood is collected, we place it in a machine that separates all the cells from the clear plasma/serum. The serum is then diluted to a certain concentration as dictated by the patient’s need through a sterile technique. The blood sample is then cultured for any bacterial contamination before dispensing to the patient. These eye drops need to be placed at a cold temperature.
Over-the-counter lubricating eye drops lack the autologous serum eye drops’ growth and healing factors. These drops are very potent and only used in patients with severe dry eye or non-healing cornea abrasion who other alternative treatments did not solve their dry eye issue.
These eye drops are very effective for patients who have severely dry eyes or non-healing cornea (e.g., in diabetic patients, neurotrophic cornea, etc.). However, they should have tried regular lubricating eye drops and other treatments needed for their problem before serum drops were prescribed for them.
Autologous serum eye drops are very effective and very soothing to the eye. The majority of patients that are not responsive to regular treatment usually respond to this treatment effectively.