The effect of amniotic membrane transplantation on rabbit conjunctival surface reconstruction at the recovering stage of alkali burn / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)
1) Tn the transplant group, conjunctival epitheliumgrowth was observed in the area of AMT under both light and electron microscope 1 week after surgery. At 4weeks, conjunctival epithelium with goblet cells that resembled normal conjunctival tissues was observed in the whole amniotic membrane area. At 12 weeks, the conjunctival epithelium on the amniotic membrane was well formed, and the connective tissue under the epithelium was loose at the fornix. No fibrosis was identified. In contrast, conjunctival epitheliumnecrosis was observed in the control group at 2weeks after alkaliburns. Re-epithelization did not occur through the 12-week observation. Severe fibrosis with inflammatory cells infiltration was observed between 4 to 8weeks. At 12 weeks, fibrosis of the connective tissue at the fornix developed and there were no conjunctival epithelium covering the burned area. 2) In the transplant group, the conjunctiva in transplanted area had no scarring and appeared smooth at 12 weeks. Upper fornix was reconstructed. The depth of fornix was 7.9±0.3mm (7.6-8.2mm), which was approximate to the normal depth 8.2±0.2mm (8.0-8.4 mm,P>.05). While in the control group, the burned area appeared rough with granuloma formation and severe scarring. Upper fornix became shallow. The depth of fornix was 3.1±1.7mm(1.0 to 4.5mm.), and significant difference was found between control and transplant group (P<0.01).
CONCLUSION:
Humanamniotic membrane preserved in glycerin can promote cell adhering, migrating and differentiating of normal conjunctival epithelium.Reconstruction of conjunctival surface in early stage of alkaliburn can be achieved by AMT. AMT can effectively prevent symblepharon formation.