OBJECTIVE To determine the density of the canine and feline corneal neural network in healthy dogs and cats using in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM). ANIMALS EXAMINED: A total of 16 adult dogs (9 Mesocephalic breeds, 7 Brachycephalic breeds) and 15 cats (9 Domestic Short-haired cats (DSH), 6 Persian cats) underwent IVCM. PROCEDURE Animals were examined with a confocal corneal microscope (HRTI...

PURPOSE We established a baseline value for central corneal subbasal nerve density in a large, healthy cohort. METHODS A total of 106 healthy volunteers (207 eyes) underwent full ophthalmic examination, including laser-scanning in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) of the central cornea. Images of the corneal subbasal nerve plexus were acquired and analyzed based on defined criteria. Nerve traci...

purpose: to investigate confocal scan features of corneal subbasal nerve plexus and epithelial dendritic cells in herpes simplex keratitis (hsk) as compared to acanthamoeba keratitis (ak). methods: confocal scan records of patients with clinical and confocal microscopic features compatible with hsk and ak as well as confocal scan records of normal participants were reviewed. the density and mor...

PURPOSE The corneal innervation, mainly analyzed in light microscopical studies, has been described as radially oriented stromal nerve bundles that ramify as leashes in the subbasal plexus. The current study aims to determine the orientation, the size, and the postmortem changes of the nerve fibers in the subbasal plexus of the human cornea. METHODS Before processing for light and electron mi...

PURPOSE To quantify the level of neuron-specific fluorescence in the corneas of transgenic mice expressing yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) driven by the thy1 promoter and examine the viability of using thy1-YFP mice as a model for studying nerve regeneration in vivo. METHODS The structure of corneal innervation in thy1-YFP mice visible with reporter gene fluorescence was compared with that v...

PURPOSE Although penetrating keratoplasty is generally considered a successful procedure, transplanted corneal tissue may exhibit abnormal epithelium, decreased sensation, and declining endothelial cell counts after surgery. This study aimed to use in vivo confocal microscopy to correlate corneal microstructure and recovery of the subbasal nerve plexus of the transplanted cornea with indication...

PURPOSE To analyze the repeatability of measuring nerve fiber length (NFL) from images of the human corneal subbasal nerve plexus using semiautomated software. METHODS Images were captured from the corneas of 50 subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus who showed varying severity of neuropathy, using the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph 3 with Rostock Corneal Module. Semiautomated nerve analysis sof...

PURPOSE To study and correlate corneal sensation in patients with herpes simplex keratitis (HSK) with density and morphologic features of subbasal corneal nerves by in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM). DESIGN Prospective, cross-sectional, controlled, single-center study. PARTICIPANTS Thirty-one eyes with the diagnosis of acute (n = 7) or chronic (n = 24) HSK and their contralateral clinicall...