Amescua turned to a team of biomedical engineers at Bascom Palmer's Ophthalmic Biophysics Center. However, outcomes from the transplant surgeries were not always successful because the eye was inflamed due to infection, causing the immune system to reject the transplant.įrustrated by this conundrum, Dr. As the eye infections worsened, it increased the chances of a tear in the cornea, which requires transplant surgery. Guillermo Amescua was a medical fellow at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute almost a decade ago, he noticed that fungal eye infections were problematic for a large number of his patients.

There are higher rates of fungal infection in places like South Florida with tropical climates. Fungal infections can be caused by humid climates, dirty contact lenses, and trauma to the eye. Photodynamic therapy is the use of chemicals and light to cure infection and strengthen the main structure of the eye, called the cornea. For more medical news and research, click here for the University of Miami's health news blog. To find a doctor or make an appointment visit the Bascom Palmer website or call (305) 243-2020. Guillermo Amescua is an ophthalmologist at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, part of UHealth – University of Miami Health System.

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