Purpose: To describe the results of autologous limbal transplantation in th
e treatment of unilateral chemical burns. Patients and methods: Two patient
s, a 40-year-old male (case 1) and a 35-year-old male (case 2), experienced
grade III chemical trauma and were treated with autologous limbal grafting
(case 1) after a postaccident period of 3 and 9 months, respectively. Chan
ge in visual acuity, epithelial healing time and postsurgical topography he
aling patterns were documented. Results: Snellen visual acuity improved fro
m 0.1 to 1.0 in both cases. Epithelial healing time for cases 1 and 2 were
4 and 2 weeks, respectively. Corneal topography of case 1 showed an induced
inferior steepness type of asymmetrical astigmatism in the graft area. Ser
ial topography showed no induced astigmatism in the donor eyes. Conclusion:
Autologous limbal grafting is an adequate treatment for selected cases of
unilateral chemical burns and facilitates rapid improvement in visual funct
ion. Early limbal grafting in case 1 resulted in rapid re-epithelialization
and prevention of complications.