Esquenazi Salomon, He Jiucheng, Kim Dooho B, Bazan Nicolas G, Bui Viet, Bazan Haydee E P
LSU Eye Center, LSU Health Sciences Center, School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112, USA.
J Cataract Refract Surg. 2006 Mar;32(3):480-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jcrs.2005.12.077.
To characterize the histological changes that occur after conductive keratoplasty (CK) using a rabbit model.
LSU Eye Center and Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.
Conductive keratoplasty was performed on 24 eyes of 12 New Zealand albino rabbits. In each eye, 24 spots were placed in a cross-corneal manner using 3 optical zones at 6.0, 7.0, and 8.0 mm. Eyes were assessed with corneal topography weekly. Rabbits were humanely killed 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks postoperatively. The eyes were then enucleated and processed for histopathology and immunohistochemical analysis.
All eyes showed an initial mean steepening of the corneal curvature of 2.24 diopters (D) 2 weeks postoperatively. Corneal topography revealed a 26%, 36%, and 39% regression of the refractive results at 4, 6, and 8 weeks, respectively. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated keratocyte apoptosis, myofibroblast appearance, and upregulation of chondroitin sulfate, MMP-1, and collagen III in the area surrounding the tip in each spot.
The histological changes that occur after CK may be responsible for the well-established regression of its refractive effect. A better understanding of the wound-healing response after CK is necessary to improve the long-term stability of the procedure.
