www.usc.edu/go/sc-eyes
 
 

USC/ Doheny Refractive Laser Medical Center treats vision abnormalities, such as nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism, using excimer laser procedures. The excimer laser is a computer controlled ultraviolet beam of light that sculpts the cornea into the shape it requires to bring light to focus more directly on the retina, thereby reducing or eliminating a variety of refractive errors. 

Presently, two variations of excimer laser procedure are offered at the Center: PRK (Photo-Refractive Keratectomy) and LASIK (Laser in-situ Karatomileusis). 

Following is a comparison of the procedures:

A physician team in Paris, France, faced the certain death of a preschool patient unless a marrow transplant was performed. The patient’s newborn sister was a perfect match for his tissue type but was too young to donate marrow. The doctors tried a stem cell transplant method that had never been tried before.

They extracted blood preserved from the newborn sister’s umbilical cord and placenta and transplanted those cells into the patient. The transplant was a success and restored that patient’s marrow. It was the first time researchers had shown that a "cord blood" transplant would work. 

Dr. Eric Sievers, a pediatric oncologist with the Center and Children’s Medical Center, has supervised three transplants at the Hutchinson Center using cord blood donors. He says the idea of using cord blood has been around for a long time because scientists have recognized that cord blood is rich in CD 34+ cells, including stem cells. 

"After about 70 such unrelated-donor cord blood transplants in the world, it appears that there are enough stem cells in cord blood for successful transplantation of children," Sievers says, "It is unclear, however, if there is enough for adults, and that is part of the reason the Center has developed research protocols invloving cord blood."