[A trial use of lenses of human placental collagen in epikeratoplasty procedures]. / Essai d'utilisation de lenticules en collagène placentaire humain dans la technique de l'épikératoplastie.

Epikeratoplasty is a refractive surgery procedure described by Werblin and Kaufman which is simple, effective and reversible. However its development is hampered by the need of human corneas. We evaluated this procedure in rabbits and monkeys using lenticules of human collagen. The collagen is obtained from frozen human placentas, washed and subjected to pepsin digestion; it is contained in the supernatant of centrifugation and can be isolated by a physico-chemical treatment. 15 days after surgery the lenses of 14 rabbits were completely covered with a layer of epithelial cells. 6 months after surgery, the eyes of 14 monkeys were quiet and the lenses were covered with an epithelium made up of 2 to 5 layers of cells. The lens exhibited no inflammatory infiltration and there was no inflammatory reaction around the lens. These studies are still preliminary and longer term tests are necessary. These initial results are very encouraging, prompting us to develop the use of this type of material in refractive surgery.