OBJECTIVE To evaluate outcomes of limbal allograft transplantation from living-related donors to treat partial limbal deficiency secondary to ocular chemical burns. METHODS Retrospective noncomparative case series comprising 17 patients (17 eyes) with partial limbal deficiency (≤50%) secondary to ocular alkali burns (11 eyes) or acid burns (6 eyes). Recipient eyes were treated by removing the...

Our objective was to determine whether key properties of extracellular matrix (ECM) macromolecules can be replicated within tissue-engineered biosynthetic matrices to influence cellular properties and behavior. To achieve this, hydrated collagen and N-isopropylacrylamide copolymer-based ECMs were fabricated and tested on a corneal model. The structural and immunological simplicity of the cornea...

PURPOSE To evaluate the data of penetrating keratoplasty over a 10-year period and to compare indications and outcomes of eyes undergoing single graft with those of eyes requiring regrafting. METHODS A total of 652 eyes of 613 patients required single graft (Group I). Sixty-one regrafts were performed on 53 eyes (Group II). The mean follow-up time was 23.4+/-21.3 months (range 6-132 months). ...

Healthy corneal endothelium is essential for maintaining corneal clarity, as the damage of corneal endothelial cells and loss of cell count causes severe visual impairment. Corneal transplantation is currently the only therapy for severe corneal disorders. The greatly limited proliferative ability of human corneal endothelial cells (HCECs), even in vitro, has challenged researchers to establish...

AIM To evaluate the outcomes and safety of lamellar keratoplasty (LK) assisted by fibrin glue in corneal perforations. METHODS Six eyes of 6 patients affected by different corneal pathologies (2 posttraumatic corneal scar and 3 bacterial keratitis) underwent LK procedures by using fibrin glue. The mean corneal perforation diameter was 1.35±0.64mm (range, 0.7-2.5mm), and the greatest diameter ...

Purpose To characterize the differences in corneal endothelial wound healing in the presence or absence of Descemet's membrane (DM), in vivo. Methods New-Zealand white rabbits were subjected to 7-mm endothelial wound either by scraping (n = 8; DM intact), peeling (n = 6; DM removed), or a combinatory scrape/peel wound (n = 6). In a second experiment, rabbits underwent peel wound with immediat...

PURPOSE To report the long-term outcomes of penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) in war victims with chronic and delayed mustard gas keratitis. METHODS This noncomparative interventional case series includes patients with advanced chronic or delayed mustard gas keratitis who had undergone PKP from 1989 to 2006. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), graft clarity, episodes of graft rejection, duratio...

PURPOSE To report a case of complex Descemet's membrane detachment (DMD) and tears during phacoemulsification cataract surgery. CASE REPORT A 64-year-old woman underwent phacoemulsification surgery in her right eye and developed tears and partial loss of Descemet's membrane (DM) while the aspiration port was inserted through the main incision. Massive corneal edema obscured the view and the a...