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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Year : 2004  |  Volume : 52  |  Issue : 4  |  Page : 281-5

Amniotic membrane transplantation for reconstruction of corneal epithelial surface in cases of partial limbal stem cell deficiency.


Sudhakar & Sreekanth Ravi Stem Cell Biology Laboratory, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India

Correspondence Address:
Virender S Sangwan
Sudhakar & Sreekanth Ravi Stem Cell Biology Laboratory, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad
India
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Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


PMID: 15693318

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  Abstract 

Purpose: To assess the efficacy of amniotic membrane for treatment of partial limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD).
Methods: Medical records of four patients with partial LSCD who underwent pannus resection and amniotic membrane transplantation (AMT) were reviewed for ocular surface stability and improvement in visual acuity. Clinico-histopathological correlation was done with the resected pannus tissue.
Results: All the eyes exhibited stable corneal epithelial surface by an average of 7 weeks postoperatively with improvement in subjective symptoms. Best corrected visual acuity improved from preoperative (range: 6/9p-6/120) to postoperative (range: 6/6p-6/15) by an average of 4.5 lines on Snellen visual acuity charts. Histopathological examination of excised tissue showed features of conjunctivalisation.
Conclusion: Amniotic membrane transplantation appears to be an effective means of reconstructing the corneal epithelial surface and for visual rehabilitation of patients with partial limbal stem cell deficiency. It may be considered as an alternative primary procedure to limbal transplantation in these cases.

Keywords: Partial limbal stem cell deficiency, ocular surface reconstruction, amniotic membrane transplantation


How to cite this article:
Sangwan VS, Matalia HP, Vemuganti GK, Rao GN. Amniotic membrane transplantation for reconstruction of corneal epithelial surface in cases of partial limbal stem cell deficiency. Indian J Ophthalmol 2004;52:281

How to cite this URL:
Sangwan VS, Matalia HP, Vemuganti GK, Rao GN. Amniotic membrane transplantation for reconstruction of corneal epithelial surface in cases of partial limbal stem cell deficiency. Indian J Ophthalmol [serial online] 2004 [cited 2024 Mar 28];52:281. Available from: https://journals.lww.com/ijo/pages/default.aspx/text.asp?2004/52/4/281/14569



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Corneal epithelial stem cells, responsible for the renewal of the corneal epithelium are located at the corneoscleral limbus.[1],[2] These stem cells are essential for the maintenance of a healthy corneal surface. Diseases that destroy these stem cells can lead to limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD).[3] Loss of limbal stem cells can be partial or total. Patients suffering from LSCD complain of decreased vision, pain, photophobia and watering. Clinically they may present with recurrent or persistent epithelial defect, conjunctivalisation of cornea, corneal neovascularisation and loss of limbal palisades of Vogt.[4],[5] Histopathologically, LSCD is characterised by progressive invasion of conjunctival epithelial cells on to the cornea, superficial vascularisation, squamous metaplasia of corneal epithelial cells, presence of goblet cells and destruction of the corneal basement membrane with fibrous tissue deposition and chronic inflammatory cells infitration.[6] The diagnosis of LSCD is important as these patients are poor candidates for conventional corneal transplantation.

In cases of unilateral LSCD or partial LSCD, autologous limbus or conjunctiva can be transplanted from the fellow eye or the normal area of same eye.[7] A major concern related to the autograft is the possibility of LSCD at the donor site.[8] Amniotic membrane transplant (AMT) has been reported with or without limbal transplant as a modality for LSCD.[9],[10] Herein we report the results of AMT for partial LSCD.


  Material and Methods Top


Patients

Case records of four patients who underwent AMT for partial limbal stem cell deficiency at our institute between December 1998 and August 2001 were retrospectively reviewed for age, gender, laterality, cause of partial LSCD, degrees of LSCD, any previous surgery, other interventions, preoperative and postoperative visual acuity, detailed slitlamp examination, details of surgical procedures and postoperative follow-ups.

Following the Ethics Committee approval, a written informed consent was obtained from each patient or attendant after explaining to them the nature of surgical procedure, risk involved and possible adverse consequences. All the surgeries were done by a single surgeon (VSS) at L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India. The clinical diagnosis of LSCD was based on the presence of conjunctivalisation, and loss of palisades of Vogt with an increased permeability to fluorescein.

Processing of amniotic membrane

Placenta was obtained from donors following an elective Caesarian section, after screening for HIV seronegativity, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus and syphilis. Amniotic membrane was processed under sterile conditions by the methods described by Lee and Tseng.[11] The processed amniotic membrane was flattened on a sterile nitrocellulose paper with the epithelial/basement membrane surface facing up and stored at -80°C in a sterile vial containing Dulbeco's modified Eagles medium and glycerol (1:1, v/v).

Surgical procedure

Three patients were operated under peribulbar anaesthetia and one received general anaesthesia. A conjunctival peritomy was performed 2 mm from the limbus in the area of conjunctivalisation. A surgical plane was identified and the fibrovascular pannus was peeled off and dissected from the cornea. The tissue was sent for histopathological examination. Preserved amniotic membrane was thawed at room temperature, peeled from the nitrocellulose paper and placed on the cornea with epithelial/basement membrane surface up, covering the whole cornea except in patient 2 in whom only the area of LSCD was covered. The amniotic membrane was sutured into place with six circumferential interrupted sutures with 10-0 monofilament nylon sutures and all the knots were buried. The peripheral edge of the membrane was sutured to the conjunctiva with 8-0 polyglactin interrupted sutures. The excess membrane was trimmed. A bandage contact lens was put in after surgery in patient 3. All the eyes were patched after surgery. Postoperatively patients were treated with gentamicin 0.3% eye drops four times a day until the corneal epithelial defect healed and prednisolone acetate 1% eye drops six times a day, tapered over a period of 6 weeks and then stopped. Case 3 developed postoperative reactivation of viral keratouveitis after one year of resolution and was started on oral acyclovir 200mg twice daily and topical acyclovir 3% five times a day. The latter was discontinued after 2 weeks but the tablet was continued. All the patients were regularly followed with proper clinical and photographic documentation with special attention to the conjunctivali-sation and inflammation of the affected area.


  Case Report Top


A 20-year-old male presented to us on January 2, 1998 with history of pain, decreased vision, redness and watering with a white spot in his left eye for 6 months. He denied any history of trauma, previous surgery or use of any indigenous medicine. He gave a history of a skin disease 6 years ago, the details of which were not available. At the time of presentation he was using ciprofloxacin hydrochloride 0.3% eye drops and polyvinyl alcohol-povidone lubricant eye drops four times a day in both eyes. On examination his visual acuity was 6/6 in the right eye and 6/9p in the left eye. Anterior segment and dilated fundus examination of right eye were unremarkable except for mild blepharitis in both eyes. The left eye showed 1+ conjunctival congestion, particularly in the nasal area. The cornea showed tongue-shaped scarring with hyperplastic epithelium nasally measuring 2.5mm X 5.5mm. The rest of the anterior segment and dilated fundus examination was within normal limits. The patient was treated with betamethasone sodium phosphate 0.1% eye drops and chloramphenicol 0.5% eye drops with oral doxycycline for four weeks for the bilateral blepharitis and the resolving blepharokeratitis in the left eye. Over the next 11 months, the pannus progressed in the left eye, threatening the visual axis [Figure 1] a. A diagnosis of focal stem cell deficiency in left eye was made, based on the clinical findings of loss of palisades of Vogt and progressive conjunctivalisation. We removed the pannus under peribulbar anaesthesia following the surgical technique described above. The pannus was sent for histopathology. Postoperatively he received prednisolone acetate 1% eye drops and gentamicin sulphate 0.3% eye drops. The corneal sutures were removed at four weeks. After seven weeks postoperative, the patient was comfortable, the ocular surface was stable and the patient regained visual acuity of 6/6p in the left eye [Figure 1] b. He had no recurrence [Figure 1] c and was comfortable 30 months after the surgery (he was last seen on June 7, 2001). The excised pannus from the cornea showed chronic inflammatory cells with the goblet cells indicating conjunctivalisation.


  Results Top


A total of four eyes of 4 patients received AMT for partial LSCD with a mean follow up period of 17.6 ± 11.4 months. Three patients were male, and the mean age was 32 ± 24.9 years ranging from (range 4 to 66 years) [Table - 1]. The extent of the LSCD was from 40° to 330° [Figure 2]a. The surgery was uneventful in all cases, with no postoperative complications. Postoperatively, all the eyes showed less inflammation and vascularisation [Figure 2]b, with all four patients improving symptomatically. None of the patients showed recurrence of conjunctivalisation, persistent epithelial defect or recurrent epithelial erosions and all eyes maintained a smooth and stable corneal epithelial surface at the last follow up [Figure 2]c. The best-corrected visual acuity improved from preoperative (6/9p-6/120 range to postoperative 6/6p-6/15 range in all four cases. The mean improvement was of 4.5 ± 2.5 lines on the Snellen visual acuity chart. Postoperative best-corrected visual acuity in all the patients was better than 6/15. Resected pannus was sent for histopathological examination in all four cases; this showed presence of conjunctival epithelium with goblet cells suggestive of conjunctivalisation.


  Discussion Top


We have demonstrated that using AMT, the corneal epithelial surface can be reconstructed and a stable ocular surface can be achieved with definite improvement in vision in cases of partial LSCD. Tseng et al[9] and Anderson et al[10] have reported encouraging results of AMT for partial LSCD. In our study all four patients improved symptomatically and the visual acuity improved by an average of 4.5 lines. In our cases the degree of LSCD ranged from 40° to 330°. As earlier reported by Anderson et al,[10] the surgery was beneficial in our case of near-total LSCD too (case no.4).

Our results also support the hypothesis of Tseng et al[9] that the AMT helps in preservation and expansion of residual limbal epithelial cells in cases of partial LSCD. In our study the histopathological analysis of all the resected tissues showed conjunctival phenotype with goblet cells and squamous metaplasia, confirming our clinical diagnosis of LSCD.[4] Partial LSCD can be treated by conjunctival or limbal autografts from same eye or the contralateral normal eye, but there are chances of the donor site developing LSCD as reported by Basti and Mathur.[8] The other option described by Dua[12] of repeated mechanical scraping is relatively simple but the longterm outcome is not known and treated cases were not very severe. A randomised controlled trial is required to answer these questions. Considering these issues, AMT could be a safer and easier alternative. [9],[10] The amniotic membrane serves as a "transplanted basement membrane" and acts as a new healthy surface for proper re-epithelialisation,[13] as it is known that the basement membrane supports and reinforces basal epithelial cell adhesion, promotes its differentiation, and migration.[14] It also prevents epithelial apoptosis.[15] Additionally the stromal matrix of the membrane can also prevent inflammatory cells,[16] produces various growth factors[17] and several forms of protease inhibitors.[18] Collectively, these actions of AMT contribute to the creation of a healthy stromal bed and a basement membrane that may subsequently support limbal epithelial stem cells, reduce stromal inflammation and promote epithelialisation.

In summary, amniotic membrane transplantation is a simple, safe and effective treatment to restore corneal epithelial surface and visually rehabilitate patients with partial limbal stem cell deficiency. Possible complications of limbal allografts such as rejection and immunesuppression or those of autografts such as donor site stem cell deficiency can be avoided by this procedure.



 
  References Top

1.
Schermer A, Galvin S, Sun T-T. Differentiation-related expression of a major 64K corneal keratin in vivo and in culture suggests limbal location of corneal epithelial stem cells. J Cell Biol 1986;103:49-62.  Back to cited text no. 1
    
2.
Pfister RR. Corneal stem cell disease; concepts, categorisation, and treatment by auto and homotransplantation of limbal stem cells. CLAOJ 1994;20:64-72.  Back to cited text no. 2
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3.
Tseng SCG, Sun T-T. Stem cells: Ocular surface maintenance. In: Brightbill FS, editor, Corneal Surgery: Theory, Technique, and Tissue . St Louis: Mosby, 1999. pp 9-18.  Back to cited text no. 3
    
4.
Tseng SCG. Conjunctival grafting for corneal diseases, in Tasman W, Jaeger EA, editors. Duane's Clinical Ophthalmology , Philadelphia. J B Lippincott, 1994. Vol 6, pp 1-11.  Back to cited text no. 4
    
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Sippel KC, Ma JJ, Foster CS. Amniotic membrane surgery. Curr Opin Ophthalmol 2001;12:269-81.   Back to cited text no. 5
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Puangsricharern V, Tseng SCG. Cytologic evidence of corneal diseases with limbal stem cell deficiency. Ophthalmology 1995;102:1476-85.  Back to cited text no. 6
    
7.
Tan DTH, Ficker LA, Buckley RJ. Limbal transplantation. Ophthalmology 1996;103:29-36.  Back to cited text no. 7
    
8.
Basti S, Mathur U. Unusual intermediate-term outcome in three cases of limbal autograft transplantation. Ophthalmology 1999;106:958-63.  Back to cited text no. 8
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9.
Tseng SC, Prabhasawat P, Barton K, Gray T, Meller D. Amniotic membrane transplantation with or without limbal allografts for corneal surface reconstruction in patients with limbal stem cell deficiency. Arch Ophthalmol 1998;116:431-41.  Back to cited text no. 9
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10.
Anderson DF, Ellies P, Pires RTF, Tseng SCG. Amniotic membrane transplantation for partial limbal stem cell deficiency. Br J Ophthalmol 2001;85:567-75.  Back to cited text no. 10
    
11.
Lee SH, Tseng SCG. Amniotic membrane transplantation for persistent epithelial defects with ulceration. Am J Ophthalmol 1997;123:303-12.  Back to cited text no. 11
    
12.
Dua HS. The conjunctiva in corneal epithelial wound healing. Br J Ophthalmol 1998;82:1407-11.  Back to cited text no. 12
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Dua HS, Azuara-Blanco A. Amniotic membrane transplantation. Br J Ophthalmol 1999;83:748-52.  Back to cited text no. 13
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Tseng SCG, Tsubota K. Important concepts for treating ocular surface and tear disorders. Am J Ophthalmol 1997;124:825-35.  Back to cited text no. 14
    
15.
Boudreau N, Sympson CJ, Werb Z, Bissell MJ. Suppression of ICE and apoptosis in mammary epithelial cells by extracellular matrix. Science 1995;267:891-93.  Back to cited text no. 15
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16.
Wang MX, Gray TB, Park WC, Prabhasawat P, Culbertson W, Forster R, et al. Reduction in corneal haze and apoptosis by amniotic membrane matrix in excimer laser photoablation in rabbits. J Cataract Refract Surg 2001;27:310-19.  Back to cited text no. 16
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Sato H, Shimazaki J, Shinozaki N, Tsubota K. Role of growth factors for ocular surface reconstruction after amniotic membrane transplantation. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 1998;39:S428.  Back to cited text no. 17
    
18.
Kim JS, Park SW, Kim JH, Lee SI, Yang HN, Kim JC. Temporary amniotic membrane graft promotes healing and inhibits protease activity in corneal wound induced by alkali burns in rabbits. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 1998;39:S90.  Back to cited text no. 18
    



 
 
    Tables

  [Table - 1]


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