Abstract
Purpose: :
To know the demographic data and therapeutic applications of amniotic membrane (AM) grafts processed and cryopreserved in a reference center in Mexico City.
Methods: :
After informed consent was obtained corioamniotic membranes were recollected from women subjected to an elective cesarean delivery, without labor. The amnion was separated from the corion, disposed in a nitrocellulose membrane and cryopreserved at a temperature of -80°C until its clinical use. Serologic tests were performed to discard infectious diseases. In this study we included 174 patients who underwent ocular surgery to treat superficial ocular disorders with AM grafts.
Results: :
192 AM grafts were performed in 174 patients, some patients had more than one graft in the same or different surgery. Of the 174 patients we studied, 86 were female (49.14%) and 88 were men (50.29%). Age. The youngest patient was 3 months old, and the oldest patient was 87 years-old (y), with an average age of 46 y; 8% were patients from 3 months to 10 y, 4 % were patients from 10-19 y, 9% were patients from 20-29 y, 15 % were patients between 30-39 y, 17% were patients from 40-49 y, 17% were patients from 50-59 y, 16% were patients between 60-69 y, 10% were patients between 70-79 y and 4% were patients from 80-89 y. Diagnosis. The main pathology was pterygium (23%), followed by ocular burns (15%), ulcers (12%), cancer (11%), simblefaron (7%), leucoma (4%), scleral thinning (4%) and others (24%).
Conclusions: :
Women and men were equally affected. We observed a higher frequency of patients treated with AM grafts between ages 40-69 years. The most common ocular surface disorder for AM graft was pterygium, similarly to other investigation series. The relevance of this study is that the AM used was obtained, processed, cryopreserved, and applied in our institute, which makes us the only institution in Mexico with this kind of technology, allowing low income patients to have access to this type of treatment.Acknowledgments: This work was partially supported by a grant from National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT 71291) and Foundation Conde de Valenciana.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: biostatistics/epidemiology methodology • cornea: clinical science • pathology: human