LIMBAL TRANSPLANTATION IN THE MANAGEMENT OF CHRONIC CONTACT-LENS-ASSOCIATED EPITHELIOPATHY

We describe the clinical management of 6 patients who developed a chro nic corneal epitheliopathy 1-18 years after commencing soft contact le ns wear. All had a history of exposure to thiomersal in contact lens f luids. The corneal changes were characterised by epithelial haze and s uperficial stromal vascularisation which extended from the limbus towa rds the visual axis. Five patients were observed for a minimum of 18 m onths after stopping contact lens wear before undergoing limbal transp lantation. A good result was obtained in 1 patient who had worn a cont act lens in one eve only. Recurrent epithelial changes were observed o n the recipient eyes of the remaining patients who had previously worn contact lenses bilaterally, and in 1 patient epithelial haze also dev eloped adjacent to the donor site in the previously clinically normal donor eye. All 5 patients experienced an improvement in symptoms post- operatively but in 2 patients the visual acuity later deteriorated bec ause of epithelial irregularity. The sixth patient has not had surgery . We conclude that limbal stem cell dysfunction in chronic contact-len s-associated epitheliopathy may be subclinical and that autograft tran splantation in bilaterally exposed patients may fail to restore the ep ithelial phenotype of the host eye whilst jeopardising the epithelial integrity of the donor eye by depleting its stem cell reserve.