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Amniotic membrane effective for treatment of epithelial disorders
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BARCELONA, Spain -- Amniotic membrane used as a therapeutic contact lens can be an effective and safe option for the treatment of some epithelial defects, according to researchers here. In patients with persistent epithelial defects, complete postoperative epithelialization was observed more often when the amniotic membrane remained in place longer.
Oscar Gris, MD, and colleagues used amniotic membrane implantation as a therapeutic contact lens in 20 consecutive patients with epithelial defects. Group 1 included 10 patients with persistent epithelial defects that did not respond to medical treatment. Group 2 included 10 patients with surgically induced epithelial defects.
No intra- or postoperative complications were observed. The amniotic membrane implant remained in place for a mean of 12.5 days. In 11 of the 20 patients, the amniotic membrane implant became detached within the first 8 days. When the corneal implant was postoperatively covered with a soft contact lens, this time increased. In group 1, complete epithelialization was achieved in three of the four cases in which the amniotic membrane remained in place for 2 or more weeks. There were no cases of complete epithelialization in which the implant remained in place for less than 1 week. In group 2, epithelialization was achieved in all cases, regardless of the time that the implant remained in place.
The early detachment of the amniotic membrane implant remains a major problem, even with the use of multiple fixation sutures.
This study is published in the January 2002 issue of Cornea.