title: Treatment of contact lens-related ocular surface disorders with autologous conjunctival transplantation.
abstract: The authors describe two cases of chronic ocular surface disorder caused by the use of soft contact lenses. These cases demonstrated persistent corneal epithelial abnormalities, indolent ulceration, superficial stromal scarring, peripheral vascularization, and decreased visual acuity (worse than 20/400). Both cases were refractory to medical management, including discontinuation of contact lenses and topical medications. Autologous conjunctival transplantation restored the ocular surface with the return of good visual acuity (better than 20/40). Tissue culture demonstrated a decreased replication rate in the limbal epithelial cells, which suggests that epithelial stem cell dysfunction may be responsible for this ocular surface disease.
authors.affiliation: LSU Eye Center, Louisiana State University Medical Center School of Medicine, New Orleans 70112.
authors.forename: T E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Clinch
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Goins
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Cobo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002452:Cell Count; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000637:transplantation*; D003263:Contact Lenses, Hydrophilic / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003316:Corneal Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000637:transplantation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D014792:Visual Acuity