Abstract
Purpose:
To report the long-term clinical outcome of on intact amniotic membrane expanded autologous limbal epithelial cells for ocular surface reconstruction in limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD). <br /> <br />
Methods:
Sixty one eyes of 59 patients (49 male and 12 female) with LSCD were treated by transplantation of autologous limbal epithelial cells expanded on intact AM. The etiology of LSCD was chemical and thermal burns (n=38), pterygium (n=8), mitomycin C induced LSCD and tumor excisison (n=11), severe infectious keratitis (n=3), perforating injury, Epidermolysis bullosa, and superficial keratectomy (each n=1). Only eyes with a follow-up time of at least 4 months were included in the analysis. The main outcome measures were restoration of ocular surface integrity and improvement of visual acuity (VA).<br />
Results:
The mean follow-up time was 40,2 ± 31.2 months. An entirely stable corneal surface was reconstructed in 48 (78,7%) eyes. Visual acuity increased significantly in 45 (73,8%) eyes, was stable in 10 (16,4%) eyes and decreased in six eyes (9,8%). The mean visual acuity increased significantly (p<0.0001) from preoperative 1.5±0.89 LogMAR to 0.8±0.65 LogMAR.
Conclusions:
Transplantation of on intact AM cultivated limbal epithelium restores a stable corneal surface and results in a significant increase of visual acuity in most cases of LSCD. Autologous transplantation of cultivated limbal epithelium show after long-term follow-up an excellent prognosis and outcome.