Ophthalmology Department, Railway Hospital Katowice, II School of Medicine with the Division of Dentistry in Zabrze, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.
Acta Ophthalmol. 2018 May;96(3):232-242. doi: 10.1111/aos.13518. Epub 2017 Jul 25.
The aim of this study was to review the most recent data about corneal sub-basal nerve plexus (SNP) evaluated with the use of corneal confocal microscopy (CCM). For this purpose, an electronic search was conducted based on PubMed and Google Scholar and Web of Science databases from 2008 up to the end of 2016. Ninety-eight articles in English were cited, as well as abstracts in other languages, concerning the morphology and function of corneal SNP in various diseases. Changes in corneal SNP as a result of local treatment were also introduced. Figures with scans from confocal microscopy from our Department were included. The main conclusion of this review was that both corneal SNP diminishment and high tortuosity as well as low sensitivity are in principle related to the presence or level of pathology. In addition, increased nerve tortuosity may represent a morphological determinant of nerve regeneration. However, the presented literature shows that SNP changes are not characteristic for one unified corneal pathology; rather, they reflect the non-specific pathological process present in many diseases. Future studies should use automatized biometric software and also examine the effects of new treatments on SNP.
本研究旨在综述近年来利用角膜共焦显微镜（CCM）评估角膜基质神经丛（SNP）的最新数据。为此，我们在 PubMed、Google Scholar 和 Web of Science 数据库中进行了电子检索，检索时间为 2008 年至 2016 年底。共引用了 98 篇英文文章，以及其他语言的摘要，内容涉及各种疾病中角膜 SNP 的形态和功能。此外，还介绍了局部治疗导致的角膜 SNP 变化。文中包含了来自我们科室共焦显微镜扫描的图片。本综述的主要结论是，角膜 SNP 的减少、高扭曲度以及低敏感性原则上与存在或程度的病理学有关。此外，神经扭曲度的增加可能代表神经再生的形态学决定因素。然而，目前的文献表明，SNP 的变化并不具有一种统一的角膜病理学特征；相反，它们反映了许多疾病中存在的非特异性病理过程。未来的研究应该使用自动化的生物计量软件，并检查新治疗方法对 SNP 的影响。
