State-of-the-art therapy allowed ten children to regain their sight. An extraordinary news that sees the protagonist the hospital of the Vanvitelli University of Napoli. The facility's Eye Clinic is the first center in Italy to be certified for gene delivery.
Ten children from central and northern Italy were finally able to regain their sight thanks to the first gene therapy, a process that involves a highly specialized and adequately trained team made up of clinicians, doctors, surgeons, hospital pharmacists, nurses and technicians. Technically, the therapy is called Voretigene neparvovec from Novartis. It is used for hereditary retinal dystrophies. It is a rare form of dystrophy linked to mutations in both copies of the RPE65 gene.
Cutting-edge therapy
The therapy began about 15 years ago. It was born from an experiment carried out thanks to the collaboration between the Vanvitelli University, the Telethon Foundation and the Children Hospital of Philadelphia. In 2019, the first two children in Italy received the treatment. Now Naples is now a point of reference on a national level for the treatment of rare diseases of the retina.
These are the words of Francesca Simonelli, Full Professor of Ophthalmology and Director of the Vanvitelli Eye Clinic: "The ten patients treated today can write, read (actually passing, in some cases, from Braille to paper and pen) and move independently. The results we have obtained - enlargement of the visual field, increase of vision at near, far and in low light conditions - therefore have a profound scientific and clinical value as well as testifying that, in a degenerative pathology, the path of early treatment is the winning one ".
The satisfaction of the Vanvitelli University
Gianfranco Nicoletti, rector of the University Vanvitelli, on the other hand, he underlined the investment of the Campania Region. He also underlined how such work places the structure among the first centers in Europe for treatment in the pediatric age ”. Finally, Antonio Giordano, general manager of the hospital, also expressed his satisfaction: “We are particularly proud to have been able to contribute, as a university hospital, to the feasibility of this operation. The thrill of seeing the images of these children who manage to play football, especially in the evening, fills us with joy ”.
Featured photo source: Instagram @unicampania
