PURPOSE Efficacy of cultivated oral mucosa epithelial transplantation (COMET) procedure in corneal epithelium restoration of aniridia patients. METHODS Study subjects were aniridia patients (13 patients; 17 eyes) with irregular, vascular conjunctival pannus involving visual axis who underwent autologous transplantation of cultivated epithelium. For the procedure oral mucosa epithelial cells w...

PURPOSE To evaluate the performance of structurally reinforced, stabilized recombinant human collagen-phosphorylcholine (RHCIII-MPC) hydrogels as corneal substitutes in a rabbit model of severe corneal damage. METHODS One eye each of 12 rabbits received a deep corneal alkali wound. Four corneas were implanted with RHCIII-MPC hydrogels. The other eight control corneas were implanted with eithe...

PURPOSE To present a case of Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome (MLS), which underwent deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) for visual rehabilitation. METHODS A 15-year-old girl with MLS was admitted with severe corneal opacity. We performed DALK on her left eye for visual rehabilitation. Big-bubble technique was used to perform lamellar separation. RESULTS Corneal graft was clear 24 months afte...

A 7-year-old girl had presented with high body temperature and joint pain which continued for 3 days. Because of the prolonged history of unexplained fever, rash, bilateral nonpurulent conjunctival injection, oropharyngeal erythema, strawberry tongue, and extreme of age, incomplete Kawasaki disease was considered and started on an intravenous immunoglobulin infusion. Six days after this treatme...

PURPOSE To evaluate and compare the toxic effects of eyedrops containing a fixed combination of 2.0% dorzolamide and 0.5% maleate timolol with or without preservatives on rabbit corneal endothelium. METHODS This study was performed with 22 eyes of New Zealand white rabbits. Dorzolamide/timolol eyedrops with preservative (Cosopt group) or without preservative (Cosopt-S group) were diluted with...

Corneal scarring remains a major cause of blindness world-wide, with limited treatment options, all of which have side-effects. Here, we tested the hypothesis that topical application of Rosiglitazone, a Thiazolidinedione and ligand of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), can effectively block scar formation in a cat model of corneal damage. Adult cats underwent bilateral e...

Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) with an argon fluoride laser (193 nm) was developed to alter the refractive power of the eye predictably and permanently. At PRK the central corneal epithelium is debrided mechanically and a disc 4 to 6 mm in diameter is ablated into the anterior stroma using computer controlled algorithms to control the depth of the wound. Theoretically for corrections of up t...

Numerous etiologies have been suspected to lead to sterile interface keratitis after laser in situ keratomileusis. This tan interface haze with a rippled appearance has been called Sands of the Sahara. We present 2 cases in which red blood cells entered the interface after a small hemorrhage from peripheral corneal vascularization during the microkeratome pass. Although this bleeding was contro...

Greater corneal biomechanical stability has been demonstrated following photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) compared with traditional microkeratome laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). Thin LASIK flaps exhibit biomechanical properties similar to PRK but with the advantage of no haze formation or pain. These findings suggest that thin flaps created with consistent thickness across the co...