角膜神经瘤与眼表疾病的临床关联。
Clinical associations of corneal neuromas with ocular surface diseases.
作者信息
Toh Charmaine Jan Li, Liu Chang, Lee Isabelle Xin Yu, Yu Lin Molly Tzu, Tong Louis, Liu Yu-Chi
机构信息
Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore.
出版信息
Neural Regen Res. 2024 Jan;19(1):140-147. doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.375308.
Corneal neuromas, also termed microneuromas, refer to microscopic, irregularly-shaped enlargements of terminal subbasal nerve endings at sites of nerve damage or injury. The formation of corneal neuromas results from damage to corneal nerves, such as following corneal pathology or corneal or intraocular surgeries. Initially, denervated areas of sensory nerve fibers become invaded by sprouts of intact sensory nerve fibers, and later injured axons regenerate and new sprouts called neuromas develop. In recent years, analysis of corneal nerve abnormalities including corneal neuromas which can be identified using in vivo confocal microscopy, a non-invasive imaging technique with microscopic resolution, has been used to evaluate corneal neuropathy and ocular surface dysfunction. Corneal neuromas have been shown to be associated with clinical symptoms of discomfort and dryness of eyes, and are a promising surrogate biomarker for ocular surface diseases, such as neuropathic corneal pain, dry eye disease, diabetic corneal neuropathy, neurotrophic keratopathy, Sjögren's syndrome, bullous keratopathy, post-refractive surgery, and others. In this review, we have summarized the current literature on the association between these ocular surface diseases and the presentation of corneal microneuromas, as well as elaborated on their pathogenesis, visualization via in vivo confocal microscopy, and utility in monitoring treatment efficacy. As current quantitative analysis on neuromas mainly relies on manual annotation and quantification, which is user-dependent and labor-intensive, future direction includes the development of artificial intelligence software to identify and quantify these potential imaging biomarkers in a more automated and sensitive manner, allowing it to be applied in clinical settings more efficiently. Combining imaging and molecular biomarkers may also help elucidate the associations between corneal neuromas and ocular surface diseases.
角膜神经瘤,也称为微神经瘤,是指在神经损伤部位,终末基底神经末梢出现的微观、形状不规则的增大。角膜神经瘤的形成是由角膜神经损伤引起的,比如角膜病变、角膜或眼内手术后。起初,感觉神经纤维的失神经支配区域会被完整感觉神经纤维的芽生侵入,随后受损轴突再生,称为神经瘤的新芽形成。近年来,对角膜神经异常的分析,包括可通过活体共聚焦显微镜识别的角膜神经瘤,已被用于评估角膜神经病变和眼表功能障碍。活体共聚焦显微镜是一种具有微观分辨率的非侵入性成像技术。角膜神经瘤已被证明与眼部不适和干涩的临床症状相关,并且是眼表疾病有前景的替代生物标志物,如神经性角膜疼痛、干眼症、糖尿病性角膜神经病变、神经营养性角膜病变、干燥综合征、大疱性角膜病变、屈光手术后的情况等。在本综述中,我们总结了关于这些眼表疾病与角膜微神经瘤表现之间关联的现有文献,并阐述了它们的发病机制、通过活体共聚焦显微镜的可视化以及在监测治疗效果中的作用。由于目前对神经瘤的定量分析主要依赖人工标注和定量,这依赖于用户且劳动强度大,未来的方向包括开发人工智能软件,以更自动化和敏感的方式识别和定量这些潜在的成像生物标志物,使其能更有效地应用于临床环境。结合成像和分子生物标志物也可能有助于阐明角膜神经瘤与眼表疾病之间的关联。