title: Hydrogel keratophakia: long-term morphology in the monkey model.
abstract: After 8.5 years a rhesus monkey with bilateral hydrogel (Permalens) intracorneal implants was evaluated by light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy to determine the long-term effects of a synthetic plastic upon the primate cornea. Light microscopy revealed that the hydrogel lenticules were implanted between 80 and 90% of stromal depth, causing posterior bulging of the stroma into the anterior chamber; this was also seen clinically with slit-lamp biomicroscopy. Some minor pathologic changes were also found elsewhere in the cornea, including epithelial remodelling anterior to the hydrogel implant and a few vacuolated endothelial cells posterior to the edges of the implant. Histologically, no inflammatory reaction was seen in either cornea. This primate demonstrates the long-term biocompatibility of hydrogel intracorneal lenses.
authors.affiliation: Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Atlanta, GA 30322.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Parks
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: McCarey
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001036:Aphakia, Postcataract / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D003315:Cornea / Q000473:pathology*; D016039:Corneal Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000473:pathology; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols