Abstract :
Purpose: This study aimed to report the surgical outcomes of autologous Simple limbal epithelial
transplantation (SLET) performed for unilateral limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) following chemical
injury.
Materials and Methods: This was single centre prospective case series of patients who developed
unilateral LSCD after chemical injury and underwent SLET between December 2018 and September 2019
with follow up of 3-6 months. Primary outcome was restoration of completely epithelized avascular corneal
surface. The secondary outcome was percentage of eyes which gained vision.
Results: This study included 5 eyes of 5 patients with follow up of 3-6 months. Stable corneal surface was
obtained clinically in 4 cases out of 5 and visual acuity gain seen in 3 patients. The factors associated with
failure of vision improvement were time of chemical injury (during childhood), duration of injury to SLET
procedure and previous history of surgical procedure. Complications seen are haemorrhage under hAM,
focal recurrence, symblepharon, keratitis and loss of explants post operatively.
Conclusion: Autologous SLET is an effective and safe modality for the treatment of unilateral LSCD.
It causes stabilization of ocular surface and also facilitates visual improvement. In a developing country
like India, with limited facilities in the healthcare system, auto-SLET is a boon for patients with unilateral
LSCD.
Keyword :
Chemical injury, Simple limbal epithelial, transplantation, Limbal stem cell deficiency.