Department of Medical Biochemistry, Unit of Regenerative Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Department of Ophthalmology, Sørlandet Hospital Arendal, Arendal, Norway; Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Exp Eye Res. 2024 Jul;244:109926. doi: 10.1016/j.exer.2024.109926. Epub 2024 May 15.
There has been a growing application of in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) in the examination of corneal microstructure, including different corneal layers and corneal nerve fibers in health and in pathological conditions. Corneal nerves forming the sub-basal nerve plexus (SBNP) beneath the corneal basal epithelial cell layer in particular have been intensively researched in health and disease as a marker for corneal neurophysioanatomical and degenerative changes. One intriguing feature in the SBNP that is found inferior to the corneal apex, is a whorl-like pattern (or vortex) of nerves, which represents an anatomical landmark. Evidence has indicated that the architecture of this 'whorl region' is dynamic, changing with time in healthy individuals but also in disease conditions such as in diabetic neuropathy and keratoconus. This review summarizes the known information regarding the characteristics and significance of the whorl region of nerves in the corneal SBNP, as a potential area of high relevance for future disease monitoring and diagnostics.
活体共聚焦显微镜（IVCM）在检查角膜微观结构方面的应用越来越广泛，包括健康和病理状态下的不同角膜层和角膜神经纤维。角膜神经形成基底上皮细胞层下的亚基底神经丛（SBNP），特别是作为角膜神经生理解剖和退行性变化的标志物，在健康和疾病方面都得到了深入研究。在 SBNP 中，一个有趣的特征是在下角膜顶点发现了一种漩涡状（或涡流状）的神经模式，这是一个解剖学标志。有证据表明，这个“漩涡区域”的结构是动态的，在健康个体中会随着时间的推移而变化，在糖尿病性神经病和圆锥角膜等疾病状态下也是如此。这篇综述总结了关于角膜 SBNP 中神经漩涡区域的特征和意义的已知信息，这可能是未来疾病监测和诊断的一个高度相关的领域。
