Indications and outcomes of amnion membrane transplantation in ocular surface diseases

Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of amniotic membrane transplantation in ocular surface diseases. Material and Methods: The charts of patients who underwent amniotic membrane transplantation in our clinic for various ocular surface diseases between January 2014 and October 2018 were analyzed retrospectively. Twenty-five eyes of 25 patients with an at least 3 months of follow-up period were included into the study. Results: The mean age was 68.36 ± 15.5 (29-93) years, and the mean follow-up period was 19.48 ± 17.33 (3-56) months. The indications for amniotic membrane transplantation were bullous keratopathy (n = 6), infected corneal ulcer (n = 3), neurotrophic keratitis (n = 2), limbal stem cell deficiency (n = 2), descematocele (n = 2), pterygium (n = 5). ), conjunctival lesion (n = 2), symblepharon (n = 2) and combined symblepharon and limbal stem cell deficiency in one of the cases. There was a significant increase in the final visual acuity of the patients with respect to the baseline (p = 0.018). When an amniotic membrane was used as an amniotic membrane graft in patients who underwent conjunctival tumour excision, symblepharon repair or pterygium excision, a smooth ocular surface healing was achieved and the recurrence rate was very low. Perforation was prevented in all cases with infected corneal ulcer, neurotrophic keratitis or descematocele accompanied by a significant thinning of the cornea. Conclusion: Amniotic membrane transplantation is an effective method in the treatment of ocular surface diseases. Amnion membrane contributes to surface healing and helps to prevent perforation in patients with deep corneal ulcers or descematocele