title: In vivo evaluation of epikeratophakia lenses by means of Scheimpflug photography.
abstract: The recovery of clarity in frozen, lyophilized human tissue lenticules used for epikeratophakia has been a matter of controversy. According to some authors, several months are necessary for the lenticules to resume normal transparency; others report clinical experience of much shorter times. Up to now, objective documentation of such findings has not been substantiated. We used a Topcon LS-45 camera to photograph four eyes that underwent epikeratophakia, preoperatively and at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks after surgery, and analyzed the film negatives by linear microdensitometry. The degree of film blackening, that is the density of the tissue, was expressed graphically by peaks of various height measured in millimeters. Best spectacle corrected Snellen visual acuity was also recorded. Similar measurements of corneal transparency were performed in 20 healthy adult volunteers whose best corrected spectacle visual acuity was 20/20. In the four operated eyes, (two keratoconus, one aphakia, and one myopia), the light scattering was increased in both the host cornea and the donor lenticule. The lenticule had a considerably increased light scattering in all patients at both 2 and 4 weeks after surgery, but was comparable to that of unoperated corneas in three of four patients at 6 weeks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Bonn, Federal Republic of Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Busin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Spitznas
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Laser
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leyendecker
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hockwin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003315:Cornea / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016039:Corneal Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D003720:Densitometry; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D008875:Middle Aged; D010781:Photography; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D014792:Visual Acuity