Mapping the corneal sub-basal nerve plexus in orthokeratology lens wear using in vivo

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Mapping the corneal sub-basal nerve plexus in orthokeratology lens wear using in vivo laser scanning confocal microscopy. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2012 Mar 6; Authors: Lum E, Golebiowski B, Swarbrick HA Abstract Purpose: To map the sub-basal nerve plexus (SBNP) in the cornea of orthokeratology (OK) lens wearers. Methods: Laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) was performed in vivo on three subjects: a non-lens wearer and two OK lens wearers. Scans were performed on the right eye while the left eye fixated a moving target. A total of 575, 430, and 676 contiguous images of the SBNP were taken from the non-lens and the OK lens wearing subjects respectively, and used to construct maps of the central to mid-peripheral SBNP. Results: In the non-lens wearing eye, nerves radiated towards a whorl-like complex centred nasally and inferiorly in an overall pattern consistent with previously reported studies. In the OK lens wearing eyes, this whorl pattern was absent, replaced by a tortuous network of nerve fibres centrally, and thicker curvilinear fibres mid-peripherally, particularly in the nasal, inferior and temporal regions.Conclusions: This study maps the corneal SBNP in OK lens wearers and provides compelling evidence that OK lens wear alters the normal SBNP distribution observed in healthy, non-lens wearing eyes. PMID: 22395884 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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