Longitudinal Changes in Corneal Epithelial Thickness and Reflectivity following Simple Limbal Epithelial Transplantation: An Optical Coherence Tomography-Based Study

Purpose To describe the changes in corneal epithelial thickness and reflectivity following simple limbal epithelial transplantation (SLET) using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (ASOCT). Methods This was a prospective imaging study of 31 eyes of 29 patients who had undergone autologous or allogeneic SLET for limbal stem cell deficiency and had stable, avascular surfaces postoperatively. ASOCT scans of all four quadrants were taken preoperatively and at 1-week, 1-month, 3-month, 6-month, and 1-year postoperative time points in the eyes undergoing SLET. Baseline scans were also taken from the normal eye in unilateral cases. The following parameters were obtained from the scans: (i) epithelial thickness (ET), (ii) stromal thickness, (iii) total corneal thickness, (iv) epithelial reflectivity (ER), (v) stromal reflectivity, and (vi) epithelial/stromal (ES) reflectivity ratio. Results Chemical injury (24 eyes, 77.4%) was the most common indication for surgery. There was a significant improvement in the ET (184.8 +/- 117.1 vs 60.3 +/- 10 mu m, p < .0001) and ER (144.5 +/- 26.4 vs 120.9 +/- 28.9, p < .0001) within the initial postoperative period following SLET, which remained stable at the end of 1 year follow-up. There was no difference in the ET of the post-SLET and normal eyes after the 3-month timepoint and this normalization was maintained until the end of the first year. A significant normalization was also noted in the ES reflectivity ratio at the end of 1 year (2.1 +/- 0.8 vs 1 +/- 0.2, p < .001). A significant correlation was found between the final visual acuity and the total corneal thickness (r = 0.942, p = .005). Conclusion There is a significant improvement in the epithelial thickness and reflectivity of the cornea in eyes undergoing SLET. ASOCT provides a reliable objective measure of these changes and can be used to monitor the outcomes in these eyes postoperatively.