purpose: to describe a novel surgical technique for in vivo limbal stem cell cultivation for reconstruction of corneal epithelium in total limbal stem cell deficiency (lscd). methods: patients suffering from chronic total unilateral lscd due to a chemical injury were sequentially included. one small limbal block (2x1 mm) harvested from contralateral healthy eye sutured over the amniotic membran...

CASE REPORT A 74-year-old man developed a partial limbal stem cell deficiency secondary to a chemical injury in the left eye. He was treated with a sectorial conjunctival epitheliectomy and amniotic membrane transplantation. After 3 weeks there was an intact, smooth and stable corneal epithelium. DISCUSSION This case report emphasizes that conjunctival epitheliectomy and amniotic membrane tra...

OBJECTIVE To describe the early results of penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) in patients who had previously undergone cultivated limbal epithelium transplantation. METHODS Medical records of patients with limbal stem cell deficiency due to chemical burns who underwent PKP after cultivated limbal epithelium transplantation were reviewed for demographics, primary etiology, type of limbal transplan...

OBJECTIVE To describe the use of a single donor corneal tissue in 3 patients with corneal pathologic conditions. METHODS A donor corneal tissue was divided into 3 parts using a microkeratome and a trephine. The anterior lamellar disc was transplanted into a patient with macular corneal dystrophy using the automated lamellar therapeutic keratoplasty technique. The posterior lamellar disc was t...

Ex vivo cultivated limbal stem cell transplantation is a promising technique for the treatment of limbal stem cell deficiency. While the results of the clinical trials have been extensively reported since the introduction of the technique in 1997, little has been reported regarding the potential health risks associated with production processes and transplantation techniques. Culture procedures...

Corneal epithelium is a self-renewing tissue. Recent studies indicate that corneal epithelial stem cells reside preferentially in the basal layer of peripheral cornea in the limbal zone, rather than uniformly in the entire corneal epithelium. This idea is supported by a unique limbal/corneal expression pattern of the K3 keratin marker for corneal-type differentiation; the preferential distribut...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Cultivated limbal stem cell transplantation is being used as a current treatment modality for limbal stem cell deficiency. However, use of allogenic biological material as substrate is associated with risks of transmission of certain diseases and allograft rejection. Therefore development of non-toxic biodegradable synthetic polymers is important. We undertook this study...

purpose: to evaluate stem cell deficiency using impression cytology (ic) in patients with chronic and delayed-onset mustard gas keratopathy (mgk). methods: a consecutive series of patients with mgk underwent ic. thirty-five eyes of 18 patients (all male) with mustard gas keratopathy were included in this observational case series. presence of goblet cells on the corneal side of specimens was co...

OBJECTIVE To report the use of preserved amniotic membrane and living related corneal limbal/conjunctival transplantation in total limbal stem cell and conjunctival deficiency secondary to severe Stevens-Johnson syndrome. DESIGN Prospective, noncomparative, interventional case series. PATIENTS AND METHODS Ten eyes of 10 patients with total limbal stem cell and conjunctival deficiency second...