Amniotic membrane transplant effective in Mooren’s ulcers

SINGAPORE — Amniotic membrane transplantation is an effective treatment of Mooren’s ulcers, said Chau Thi Minh Hoang, MD. She described a prospective, non-comparative case series of 10 eyes in eight patients with Mooren’s ulcers here at the meeting of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology. Five of the eyes had failed other therapies including antibiotics and cortical steroids, and five had recurrent ulcers.

“Amniotic membrane can be used as an ideal graft in a variety of ocular surface diseases,” Dr. Chau said.

The average follow-up was 10 months, and the average patient age was 49.2 years old. Four of the eyes underwent a single layer transplant, and the remaining eyes underwent a multilayer transplant. On average, eyes began healing in 3 days, Dr. Chau said.

At 6 months, three eyes were 20/25, and two were between 20/50 and 20/30, she said. Vision had stabilized by the 6-month mark in all patients, she said.

The procedure is not without its limits, she said, as it is difficult to perform in cases with large perforated ulcers and can leave irregular astigmatisms postoperatively.

“Amniotic membrane transplantation may be considered an effective procedure for severe cases of Mooren’s ulcer instead of conjunctival resection or lamellar keratoplasty,” Dr. Chau said.