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...

Regeneration of the corneal surface after an epithelial insult involves division, migration, and maturation of a specialized group of stem cells located in the limbus. Several insults, both intrinsic and extrinsic, can precipitate destruction of the delicate microenvironment of these cells, resulting in limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD). In such cases, reepithelialization fails and conjunctiva...

PURPOSE To evaluate the expression patterns of neurotrophic factors (NTFs) and their receptors in the human cornea with the intention of exploring the role of NTFs in maintaining corneal epithelial stem cells in the limbus. METHODS Fresh human corneoscleral tissues were prepared for frozen sections. Immunofluorescent staining was performed with primary antibodies against six members of three ...

AIM To determine the immunohistochemical characteristics of putative corneal epithelial stem cells remaining on limbal explants maintained in culture. METHODS Human limbal explant cultures were generated from 25 residual corneoscleral donor rims following penetrating keratoplasty. Serial sections of these explants were studied using immunohistochemical techniques with a panel of antibodies, o...

Total bilateral Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency is a pathologic condition of the ocular surface due to loss corneal stem cells. Cultivated oral mucosa epithelial transplantation (COMET) only autologous successful treatment for this pathology in clinical application, although abnormal peripheric vascularization often occurs. Properly characterizing regenerated needed reliable follow-up. So far, univ...

CASE REPORT We present the case of a woman readmitted to our service to receive treatment for severe ophthalmic manifestations due to Lyell's syndrome. This intense affectation of the ocular surface along with limbal stem cell deficiency are grounds for treatment with Boston type 1 keratoprosthesis, which provided a stable and very satisfactory functional result. DISCUSSION As noted in this c...

Corneal epithelial stem cells or limbal stem cells (LSCs) are responsible for the maintenance of the corneal epithelium in humans. The exact location of LSCs is still under debate, but the increasing need for identifying the biological processes in the limbus, where LSCs are located, is of great importance in the regulation of LSCs. In our current study we identified 146 preferentially expresse...