Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To examine the use of optical coherence tomography (OCT) in evaluating corneal pathologies including pterygia and scarring. Methods: Eleven corneas of nine patients were evaluated with a Humphrey OCT 2000 calibrated for retina. Corneal pathologies imaged included: One eye had scarring secondary to chemical burn. One eye had scarring perhaps herpetic in etiology. One eye had primary pterygium. Three eyes had scars post-pterygium excision. Two eyes had recurrent pterygium post-excision. Two normal corneas were evaluated with two techniques, one with the probe directed orthogonally to the cornea and one obliquely to the. Results:High reflectivity was observed at interfaces between different tissues as well as when the probe was held orthogonally to the corneal surface. Similarly, high reflectivity was seen in scar tissue. Cystic spaces appeared hyporeflective. The OCT allowed us to estimate scar depth and to evaluate cornea that was otherwise scarred over. OCT was limited in its ability to depict cornea directly posterior to anterior opacity. In addition, angles of incidence played an important and complicating role. Tissues orthogonal to incoming light from the OCT demonstrated high reflectivity, which can simulate opacity. If the subject cornea was evaluated at an angle, decreased reflectivity could result, minimizing reflectivity. Conclusions:OCT was able to provide detailed cross-sectional descriptions of normal and pathological corneal anatomy with some limitations.
Keywords: cornea: basic science • imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, S