Treatment of Persistent Corneal Ulcers at the Clínic

Each year, the Clinical Institute of Ophthalmology treats more than 50 cases of persistent corneal ulcers, especially through the use of blood-derived eye drops and amniotic membranes that require a small outpatient operation with local anaesthesia.

The Hospital Clínic is involved in a clinical trial with other hospitals in Barcelona (multicentre) on the application of umbilical cord blood eye drops in neurotrophic ulcers (with little or no corneal sensitivity).

In collaboration with the Banc de Sang i Teixits de Catalunya, approval by the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices has been received to apply treatments using autologous limbal stem cell cultures from the contralateral eye in cases of unilateral limbal affliction.

The Hospital Clínic belongs to the Ministry of Health Reference Centres and Units (CSUR) for the Eye Surface Reconstruction in complex cases, which means being able to treat patients from any Autonomous Community.

In addition to the active participation of the Clínic's professionals in numerous national and international scientific forums, the first cornea and ocular surface fellowship ended in 2019. This was designed to offer a newly qualified specialist ophthalmologist a year of training in this field.