Introduction
Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, visual loss, NA-AION, limbal stem cell deficiency, ischemic stroke
OPTIC NEUROPATHIES, ISCHEMIC OPTIC NEUROPATHY, OPTIC NERVE, ISCHEMIC STROKE, LIMBAL STEM CELL DEFICIENCY
Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NA-AION), the most common ischemic optic neuropathy [Despite increasing knowledge about the risk factors and clinical findings of NA-AION, there is no effective treatment, and the existing ones lack a clear evidence-based benefit [Because there is great interest in neuroprotective therapy for ischemic stroke and various types of optic neuropathies, this approach has been suggested for NA-AION. However, a recent review found that despite all the experimental and clinical research on neuroprotective agents in NA-AION, no scientific evidence shows that any of the suggested molecules had any beneficial effect in human clinical studies [In 2017, the Stem Cell Ophthalmology Treatment Study (SCOTS) reported 10 patients with bilateral visual loss due to NA-AION who was treated with autologous bone marrow-derived stem cell (BMSC) therapy and achieved visual improvements [MSCs display significant anti-proliferative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic features in the neural environment and until now, 20 clinical trials of MSC transplantation have been performed in patients mainly after ischemic stroke. We focused our study on NA-AION because the optic nerve is considered a part of the central nervous system [We also have extensive experience with the use of these MSV® cells in patients with limbal stem cell deficiency [The purpose of this work was to describe the results of intravitreal injection of allogeneic BM-MSCs (MSV®) in five patients with acute NA-AION who had been followed for a period of 12 months.