Descemet's membrane substrate from human donor lens anterior capsule

Background: To study the potential use of human donor anterior lens capsule as a Descemet's membrane substrate. Methods: Anterior lens capsules were recovered from the lenses of 30 cornea donors. Human corneal endothelial cells were recovered from the remaining corneal sclera rims of 15 donor corneas used for penetrating keratoplasty. Samples were sorted into three groups. Group 1 consisted of 10 samples in which the endothelial cells were allowed to grow on anterior lens capsules. In Group 2 human corneal endothelial cells grew on a collagen membrane and in Group 3 on polystyrene culture plates. Cell density, morphology and adherence of the cell–capsule complex were evaluated at 1, 4, 7 and 14 days with a phase‐contrast microscope, a scanning electron microscope and by histology. Cell viability was quantified by a microscopic live–dead assay. Expression of zonula occludens‐1, Na⁺/K⁺‐adenosine triphosphatase, tissue transglutaminase and vimentin were investigated by immunohistochemistry. Results: A mean diameter of 10.05 ± 0.13 mm of anterior capsule was obtained as a substrate for cell culture. Endothelial cell density of Group 1 was measured at 2455.4 ± 283.8 cells/mm², which was also comparable with the cell density of the control group. Cell viability was 95% or superior in all groups and multiple cellular interconnections developed between growing cells. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated strongly positive staining for all investigated proteins. Electron microscopy confirmed the adherence and monolayer growth of the endothelial cells. Conclusions: Human donor anterior lens capsule might therefore be a potential scaffold for the ex vivo expansion of human corneal endothelial cells.     

Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty: analysis of clinical outcomes of patients with 8–10 years follow-up

International Ophthalmology - This study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes up to 10 years after Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK). In this retrospective, consecutive,...     

Severe chronic blepharitis and scarring ectropion associated with discoid lupus erythematosus

Discoid lupus erythematosus is a common form of chronic cutaneous lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune inflammatory disease that affects most of the human organs, including the skin, kidneys, joints, heart and lungs. We describe a 45‐year‐old Caucasian woman with a 21‐year history of eyelid redness and irritation. She had been treated with antibiotics, steroids and eyelid hygiene, a therapy that resulted to brief periods of relief of symptoms. In the last 12 months, her symptoms seemed to have exacerbated, despite the administration of a local therapy. Following biopsy, a diagnosis of discoid lupus erythematosus was confirmed and the patient was placed on a systemic therapy with hydroxychloroquine. The eyelid inflammation decreased but severe scarring of the marginal eyelids persisted, resulting in cicatricial ectropion.     

Melanindispersionssyndrom und -glaukom

Background

The purpose of this study was to analyze if anterior chamber parameters are risk factors for the development of pigment dispersion syndrome (PDS) and/or for the conversion to pigmentary glaucoma (PG).

Patients and methods

This study included a total of 63 eyes from 35 patients with PDS and PG and 65 eyes from 49 unaffected volunteers as the control group. The following parameters were measured by slit lamp optical coherence tomography (SL-OCT): anterior chamber volume (ACV) and depth (ACD), angle opening distance (AOD) and the trabecular iris space area (TISA) at 500 µm and 750 μm from the scleral spur. Comparisons between the following groups were performed: between the PDS/PG and the control group, between PDS and PG and between male and female patients.

Results

The results of ACV, ACD, AOD and TISA were significantly higher in PDS/PG patients when compared to the control group. There were no significant differences between PDS and PG. The gender-specific comparison also showed no significant differences.

Conclusions

Significantly higher anterior chamber parameters are a possible risk factor for development of PDS; however, a higher risk of conversion to PG does not seem to correlate with increased anterior chamber parameters. The parameters of the anterior chamber are apparently not associated with the male predominance of PDS and PG.