In vivo confocal microscopy of human cornea covered with human amniotic membrane.
OBJECTIVE
Amniotic membrane transplantation has been widely performed to reconstruct the surface of the eye and treat chemical burns or epithelial defects. However, we have difficulty observing the cornea through the opaque transplanted amniotic membrane by slit-lamp biomicroscopy. We investigated the use of confocal microscopy for observation of human corneas covered with amniotic membrane.


METHODS
Human amniotic membrane was placed onto the normal corneas of five volunteers aged 22-24 years. Then, all layers of the covered corneas were observed by in vivo confocal microscopy.


RESULTS
Confocal microscopy displayed the epithelium, basement membrane, and stroma of the amniotic membrane. It also displayed the corneal epithelium. Furthermore, corneal stromal keratocytes and the corneal endothelium were clearly observed through the amniotic membrane by confocal microscopy.


CONCLUSIONS
We demonstrated that in vivo confocal microscopy enabled us to observe all layers of corneas covered with amniotic membrane in normal human eyes. Our findings suggest that confocal microscopy may have advantages for clinical examination of the ocular surface, including all layers of the cornea.
Mimura
Tatsuya
T
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. mimurat-tky@umin.ac.jp.
Yamagami
Satoru
S
Department of Corneal Tissue Regeneration, University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Usui
Tomohiko
T
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda
Norihiko
N
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Araki
Fumiyuki
F
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Amano
Shiro
S
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
D000650:Amnion / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D001485:Basement Membrane / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D001684:Biological Dressings; D050541:Bowman Membrane / Q000166:cytology; D048430:Cell Shape; D048429:Cell Size; D003315:Cornea / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000166:cytology; D003319:Corneal Stroma / Q000166:cytology; D004728:Endothelium, Corneal / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology; D019573:Epithelium, Corneal / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D055815:Young Adult