Abstract
Purpose: :
To evaluate de level of pain, red eye and epithelialization in eyes with severe ocular surface injury which received amniotic membrane graft.
Methods: :
Retrospective, observational study of 48 eyes of 48 patients with: bullous keratopathy (21 cases), ocular cicatricial pemphigoid (6 cases), perforated ulcers (5 cases), cpngenital glaucoma keratopathy (3 cases), neurotrophic ulcers (3 cases), chemical burns (3 cases), pterygium ( 3 cases), herpetic keratitis (2 cases), thermal burns (1 case), limbar tumor (1 case). All cases received an amniotic membrane graft with a minimum follow up of 6 months. The studied variables were: pre and post-operatory pain and red eye and epithelialization of the ocular surface.
Results: :
34 of 48 patients did not express pain postoperatively: with regards to red eye: 23 eyes showed no evidence of this sign, while 17, 6 and 2 eyes had mild, moderate and severe red eye. Complete epithelialization (100% of the corneal surface) was achieved in 10 eyes, 75% in 17 eyes, 50 % in 9 eyes, 25% in 5 eyes, 10 % in 4 eyes, 0 % in 3 eyes.
Conclusions: :
Amniotic membrane is a useful tool in disorders of the ocular surface, not only as an anti-inflammatory tissue but also as a resource to stimulate epithelialization of ocular surface and reduce pain.
Keywords: cornea: epithelium