Abstract
Purpose: :
To analyze the changes in conjunctiva by CIC (conjunctival impression cytology) following corneal refractive surgery.
Methods: :
A prospective study of thirty-three patients (sixty four eyes) who underwent corneal refractive surgery was done. CIC was performed preoperatively and one year after the procedure. Samples were taken from two sites of the bulbar conjunctiva, a filter paper with the impression specimen was stained with periodic acid Schiff and hematoxylin as counterstain. The samples were studied for changes in cellular morphology, nucleus size, nucleocytoplasmic ratio, mean individual epithelial cell area (MIECA), goblet cell density, and PAS-positivity. The cytological changes were graded according to NelsonÑÂ's classification. All patients that underwent surgery had a score of 1 or less in NelsonÑÂ's classification.
Results: :
All the pathological parameters analyzed were similar before and after surgery. Regarding goblet cell density, it remained stable in 62%, improved in 30% and diminished in 8% one year after the corneal refractive surgery procedure.
Conclusions: :
CIC could be a non invasive technique for the screening of patients with dry eye syndrome that eventually seek for corneal refractive surgery. We found a slight difference towards improvement on the CIC analysis one year after LASIK.
Keywords: refractive surgery: LASIK • cytology • cornea: tears/tear film/dry eye