New Hopes and Strategies for the Treatment of Severe Ocular Surface Disease

The document reviewed recent advances in treating severe ocular surface diseases (OSDs), highlighting the development of ocular surface reconstruction techniques. Autologous cultivated corneal limbal epithelial transplantation was found to be a promising and well-tolerated treatment for severe OSD. Additionally, new transplantation techniques using tissue-engineered epidermal adult stem cells, immature dental pulp stem cells, and hair follicle bulge-derived stem cells showed success in reconstructing corneal epithelium in animal models. The use of recombinant human cross-linked collagen scaffolds and FDA-approved contact lenses also emerged as promising methods for ocular surface reconstruction.