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Objectives: To investigate the indications and outcomes of amniotic membrane transplantation (AMT). Materials and Methods: A total of 87 eyes who underwent amnion membrane transplantation in our clinic between February 2010 and April 2013 were included in this study. Mean follow-up period was 7.49±7.84 months (range 1-29 months). Amnion membrane defrosted at room temperature and washed three times with saline covered all over the cornea independent of the position and size of the lesion and was sutured to the peripheral cornea circumferentially by 10/0 monofilament suture. At the end of the operation, therapeutic contact lens was placed. All cases were evaluated with respect to duration of surface epithelial healing, visual acuity, presence of recurrence, and infection. Results: Forty-six of the 87 patients (52.8%) were men and 41 (47.1%) were women. The mean age was 57.02±19.74 years (range 31-89 years) in men and 66.69±16.56 years (range 8-88 years) in women. The indications were: ulcers in 27 eyes, keratitis in 24 eyes, topical anesthetic abuse in 10 eyes, bullous keratopathy in 7 eyes, conjunctival mass in 7 eyes, symblepharon in 3 eyes, chemical burns in 3 eyes, pterygium in 2 eyes, endophthalmitis in 2 eyes, dellen in 1 eye, and conjunctival laceration in 1 eye. After AMT, 12 patients required second AMT, and 2 cases required third AMT. 2 eyes were eviscerated, 1 eye was exenterated. At the final follow-up visit, except for patients who underwent evisceration and exenteration, improved visual acuity was observed in 45 of the 84 eyes (53.5%). The average of healing time was between 4 and 6 weeks. No infectious, inflammatory, immunologic, or toxic/allergic reactions related to AMT was observed. Conclusion: Amniotic membrane transplantation is a safe and effective technique in ocular surface diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of amniotic membrane transplantation (AMT) in the treatment of corneal ulcers resulting from herpetic keratitis (HK) and bacterial keratitis (BK). Material and Method: Forty-six patients (25 HK, 21 BK) treated with AMT for HK or BK-related corneal ulcers between January 2009 and September 2011 were followed prospectively. The visual acuities and ulcer characteristics (depth and localization) prior to AMT and epithelialization time, as well as final visual acuities after AMT, were evaluated. Results: The mean age was 51.9±17.0 years in HK and 53.3±22.0 years in BK and the mean follow-up time was 12.6±6.1 (5-33) months and 10.2±6.8 (3-27) months, respectively. The ulcers were mostly central in HK (72%) and paracentral in BK (52.4%) (p=0.03). Ulcer depth was deeper than 1/2 of the cornea in 14 (56%) HK and in 7 (33.3%) BK (p=0.290). Eight HK patients had scars from previous herpetic keratitis episodes. The mean epithelialization time was 22.3±8.5 (12-50) days in HK and 22.1±10.9 (8-45) days in BK (p=0.488). While epithelialization was achieved in all the patients with BK, 3 HK patients needed adjunctive surgeries (conjunctival flap, tectonic penetrating keratoplasty) in spite of three AMTs. Although visual acuities improved significantly in both groups, this improvement was more evident in BK cases (p=0.018 for HK and p<0.001 for BK). Discussion: Amniotic membrane transplantation is an effective and safe treatment for bacterial and herpetic corneal ulcers. The reason for the lower final visual acuities in the herpetic group was thought to be related to a more central location, deeper involvement and scars due to previous attacks [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]