RESUMO
To evaluate the biocompatibility of amniotic membrane(AM) and the effect of amniotic membrane transplantation(AMT) on inhibition of corneal neovascularization in severely damaged ocular surface disease. AMT group did not show graft rejection but allogenic corneal lamellar transplantation group show graft rejection 3 in 5 rabbits. In 3 months of follow-up, all control corneas were revascularized to the center with granuloma and total corneal opacity. In contrast, 3 corneas in the experimental group became with either minimal or no vascularization: the rest had either midperipheral (n=3) or total (n=4) vascularization with stromal opacity. AM was intact in experimental success group, whereas AM was either partially degraded or covered by host fibrovascular stroma in experimental failure group. So the success of corneal surface reconstruction correlated with the preservation of AM. Therefore the restoration of a basement membrane by AMT contribute to the recovery of the healthy normal corneal epithelium. There results suggest that AMT could be useful for ocular surface reconstruction clinically.