MODIFIED SURGICAL TECHNIQUE FOR AUTOLOGOU S CONJUNCTIVAL TRANSPLANTATION AFTER CORNEAL ALKALI BURN

Background A modified conjunctival plastic for the treatment of unilat eral alkali burn in presented. This procedure is aimed at both reconst ructing the limbal region while eliminating the symblephara, thus allo wing free ocular motility and partial recovery of corneal transparency . Patients and Methods Two patients suffering from unilateral alkali b urn underwent a conjunctival plastic according to a technique modified from Kenyon. Preoperatively, both patients exhibited a fully vascular ized. scarred cornea as well as extensive symblephara. By transplantin g both limbal and bulbar autologous conjunctiva from the healthy eve t o the injured one, it was possible in the two cases to reestablish the limbal and fornix anatomy. Results Postoperatively, free bulbar motil ity was achieved in both cases, while vision improved substantially on ly in the adult, not amblyopic patient who could obtain an uncorrected visual acuity of 0.05. Conclusion The modified conjunctival plastic e mployed in the two cases reported herein led to excellent anatomic res ults while allowing partial recovery of corneal transparency and impro vement of vision.