Risk factors for autologous limbal stem cell transplant include epithelial metaplasia, failure of the stem cells to replicate in the host eye and decrease in the amount of stem cells in the donor eye, which risks destabilizing the ocular surface of the healthy eye 6, 8. During autologous limbal stem cell transplant, several clock hours of the limbal region of the healthy eye are transplanted into the injured eye. Treatment of unilateral LSCD patients may include autologous limbal stem cell transplant, followed by either a DALK or penetrating keratoplasty (PK) to restore visual acuity. Recently, OCT was described as an imaging method that can be used to visualize the POV 7, which raises the possibility of using this rapid, non-contact imaging technique to acquire more detailed information about the status of the palisades prior to surgery. However, the restricted field of view in slit lamp and the direct contact required for confocal microscopy are disadvantages when evaluating patients for possible transplant. Evaluation of LSCD patients is currently conducted with slit lamp and with confocal microscopy. Loss of the POV and the resident LESCs produces limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) 5, which is a clinically important cause of corneal blindness that remains a difficult and challenging condition for clinicians to manage 6. This region has a unique configuration in each person, remodels over time, and contains stem cells that divide and migrate into the cornea in a centripetal pattern to restore the corneal epithelium 2– 4.
#Bioptigen sd oct series#
Replenishment of healthy corneal epithelium relies on proper functioning of limbal epithelial stem cells (LESCs) 1 located in the palisades of Vogt (POV), a series of fibrovascular ridges located primarily in the superior and inferior corneal limbus.
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