AIM To evaluate the effect of a high dose vitamin A and E supplementation on corneal re-epithelialisation time, visual acuity and haze following photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). METHODS Two groups of 20 patients who underwent myopic PRK were supplemented with either 25 000 IU retinol palmitate and 230 mg alpha tocopheryl nicotinate or a placebo. Clinical outcomes were evaluated up to 360 da...

Corneal scarring is due to aberrant activity of the transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) signaling pathway following traumatic, mechanical, infectious, or surgical injury. Altered TGFβ signaling cascade leads to downstream Smad (Suppressor of mothers against decapentaplegic) protein-mediated signaling events that regulate expression of extracellular matrix and myogenic proteins. These events lea...

This study was conducted to establish the feasibility of corneal transplantation using the big-bubble technique (BBT) to perform deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) in three dogs. After the cornea was trephined 750 µm, 4 mL of air was injected, and the blanched stroma was removed to expose Descemet's membrane (DM). The donor corneal button, which was gently stripped off the DM, was sutur...

PURPOSE The safety and efficacy of corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL) and topography-guided photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) using a different sequence and timing were evaluated in consecutive keratoconus cases. METHODS This study included a total of 325 eyes with keratoconus. Eyes were divided into two groups. The first group (n=127 eyes) underwent CXL with subsequent topography-guided PR...

Experimental exposure of four volunteers to 40-50 mg/m3 of dimethylethylamine (DMEA) for eight hours caused irritation of the mucous membrane of their eyes, subjective visual disturbances (haze), and slight oedema of the corneal epithelium. The thickness of the cornea showed a slight but consistent increase in all four subjects at these exposures and in two subjects exposed to 10 mg/m3. Concent...

PURPOSE Subepithelial haze is a frequent complication and is often the cause of regression after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). The lack of understanding of this undesirable complication following PRK is in part due to the limited availability of suitable tissues for pathological studies. METHODS We examined the expression of various extracellular components in the cornea of a 46-year-old...

PURPOSE Recent studies have shown that rabbit corneal keratocytes abundantly express two water-soluble proteins, transketolase (TKT) and aldehyde dehydrogenase class 1A1 (ALDH1A1), in vivo and that these proteins may contribute to corneal transparency at the cellular level. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the expression of these proteins and the development o...

BACKGROUND To study the effect of prophylactic application of mitomycin-C on haze formation in photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) for high myopia. METHODS Fifty-four eyes of 28 myopic patients were enrolled in this prospective study. All eyes were operated by PRK followed by 0.02% mitomycin-C application for two minutes and washed with 20 ml normal saline afterwards. All eyes were examined tho...

OBJECTIVE To observe the influence of flap-on or flap-off Epipolis laser in situ keratomileusis (epi-LASIK) on the release of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) in tear fluid and corneal haze formation. METHODS Thirty patients (60 eyes) with myopia underwent epi-LASIK surgery with epithelial flap repositioning (flap-on) in the right eyes and epithelial flap removal (flap-off) in the left ...