Anatomical pathology in corneal ectasias: layer-by-layer study

Session Details

Session Title: Presented Poster Session: New & Interesting I

Venue: Poster Village: Pod 3

First Author: : E.Alfonso Muñoz SPAIN

Co Author(s): :    S. Montolio-Marzo   M. Hernández Díaz   J. Davó-Cabrera   J. Pía-Ludeña   M. Roig Revert   C. Peris Martínez        

Abstract Details

Purpose:

Anatomical pathology has been one of the main sources of information to understand diseases for years. The purpose of this study is to show the alterations found in the anatomical pathology specimens of patients with ectasia.

Setting:

FISABIO Oftalmología Médica (FOM), Valencia, Spain.

Methods:

The anatomical pathology specimens of the patients with ectasia who underwent a keratoplasty in our center between 2008 and 2018 were studied. Data analyzed was: age, gender, disease and procedure. A layer by layer study was done, comparing the anatomical findings with the anterior segment OCT and clinical findings in each patient.

Results:

Twenty five corneal buttons of 25 patients were studied. Twenty four patients suffered keratoconus and 1 patient ectasia post-Lasik. The mean age was 40 years old, 17 were men and 8 women. Procedures performed were 16 penetrant keratoplasties and 9 deep anterior lamellar keratoplasties. Corneal epithelium appeared thinned with a decrease in the number of cell layers, especially in the cone apex. Bowman´s layer was usually broken. Corneal stroma showed loss of fibrils, being more compacted, and fibroblasts. Descemet membrane breaks and folds were observed in cases of hydrops. These findings were correlated with OCT and clinical findings.

Conclusions:

Anatomical pathology study of corneal ectatic disorders shows what is happening in corneal tissue during the development of the ectasia helping the ophthalmologists to understand these diseases. Epithelial and Bowman defects in postLASIK ectasia appear similar to the defects in keratoconus ectasia.

Financial Disclosure:

None