Amniotic membrane transplantation in ocular surface diseases

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the clinical effectiveness of amniotic membrane transplantation for ocular surface reconstruction. Methods: Prospective study including 23 eyes of 21 patients who underwent amniotic membrane transplantation at Hospital de Clinicas da Universidade Federal do Parana (HC-UFPR) and at Cirurgia e Diagnose em Oftalmologia do Parana (CDOP) clinic, located in Curitiba, PR, Brazil, from may 2015 to july 2019. The amniotic membrane was collected from elective and term cesarean delivery, and conserved in preservation medium and glycerol 1:1, stored at -80° Celsius. The membrane was fixed on the ocular surface with 10-0 nylon, 8-0 vicryl, biological glue or a combination of these materials. Results: The ocular surface reconstruction was successful in 22 eyes (95.6%). Failure was observed only in 1 case (bullous keratopathy) in which the condition was maintained postoperatively. Patients' age ranged from 11-82 years, with a mean age of 37.4 years. There was a higher incidence in males (66.6%). A difference was perceived in the distribution of the affected eye (which was greater in the right eye - 65.2%). As for the previous ophthalmic surgery history, 12 of the 23 eyes had a positive history (52.2%). It was observed that all patients who had preoperative visual acuity assessed showed improvement or maintenance of corrected visual acuity. In the postoperative period, complications associated with the underlying disease were observed, although not particularly related to the amniotic membrane transplantation. There were not any cases of postoperative infection. Conclusions: There was an improvement in the general state of the ocular surface in almost all of the cases in which the transplant was performed. Therefore, the amniotic membrane can be considered a good alternative for reconstructing the ocular surface, as a single or supporting treatment.