Corneal epithelial regeneration and adhesion following acid burns in the rhesus monkey.

For study of corneal adhesion after chemical injury, sulfuric acid was used to burn the central and peripheral corneal epithelium in rhesus monkeys. The adhesion properties of the regenerating epithelium were sequentially followed by clinical assessment and by serial corneal biopsy specimens examined by transmission electron microscopy. The peripheral burns healed uneventfully, but the central corneal burns resulted in persistently loose adhesion for more than 8 weeks. The pathogenesis of the defective epithelial adhesion appeared to initially the persistence of the original basement membrane that could not be utilized by regenerating epithelium. Later, poor adhesion was related to the slow rate of basement membrane regeneration and also to fragmentation of the Bowman's layer substrate and to mild stromal edema.