Ocular surface disease and ocular surface reconstruction

The ocular surface is, as the name implies, the surface of the eye. Anatomically, the ocular surface includes the entire mucosal epithelial lining between the upper and lower lid margins. Histologically, it includes the cornea, conjunctival epithelium, and tear film. It consists of the corneal epithelium, the conjunctival epithelium, and the layer of tear film adhering to its surface. The ocular surface is an important structure for maintaining the health of the eye and maintaining clear visual function. Serious ocular surface diseases can cause corneal clouding, which can cause serious harm to visual function and even lead to blindness. The three parts of the ocular surface are closely related, and changes in any one of them will lead to instability of the ocular surface, and the resulting disease is an ocular surface disease. In a narrow sense, ocular surface diseases refer only to diseases of the cornea and conjunctival epithelium. In a relatively broad sense, ocular surface diseases should include superficial corneoconjunctival diseases and diseases that can lead to abnormal tear film function, i.e. “ocular surface tear diseases”. The health of the corneal and conjunctival epithelium is closely related to the underlying stromal microenvironment and the tear film. A healthy corneal epithelium induces synthesis of the underlying stroma; a healthy corneal stroma promotes the growth and differentiation of the corneal epithelium. The lacrimal membrane is an ultra-thin layer nearly 7-10 μm thick that distributes tears evenly across the epithelial surface of the cornea through the transient movements of the eyelids. Therefore, any disease that can cause changes in the cornea and tear composition and transient movements will definitely affect the health of the ocular surface. Ocular surface diseases are the most common ocular diseases. Serious complications of various ocular surface diseases can affect the transparency of the cornea, leading to vision loss and even blindness, i.e. corneal blindness. Corneal blindness is the second most common cause of blindness and low vision, after cataracts. Therefore, the prevention and treatment of ocular surface diseases is of great importance! Common clinical ocular surface diseases include: infectious inflammation of the cornea and conjunctiva (such as bacterial, viral, and chlamydial infections), dry eye, allergic keratoconjunctivitis, and ocular surface trauma and chemical injuries, all of which are the most common diseases in ophthalmology clinics. In particular, severe ocular surface diseases caused by acid, alkaline or thermal burns, which can result in the loss of corneal limbal stem cells and lid adhesions are clinically difficult to treat and are a recalcitrant blinding eye disease that needs to be treated with appropriate ocular surface reconstructive surgery. Computer Video Terminal Syndrome (C.V.S.) has been increasing in recent years, due to long-term gaze at the television and computer monitors, which tends to fatigue the eye muscles and reduce the ability to adjust them, while the number of eye blinks decreases when gazing at the monitor, leading to a decrease in tear secretion and also prompting too rapid evaporation of tears, which affects the formation of a corneal surface A complete layer of lubricated tear film will produce dry eyes and discomfort, and in serious cases, even damage the cornea, which can also cause ocular surface diseases. In clinical terms, ocular surface reconstruction refers to the reconstruction of the corneoconjunctival surface. The epithelium of the ocular surface is derived from corneal stem cells and conjunctival stem cells, which can participate in the composition of the tear film by secreting mucin. Studies have shown that corneal epithelial stem cells are located at the corneal limbus; conjunctival epithelial cells may originate from the dome and/or the skin-mucosal junction at the lid margin. The health of the ocular surface epithelium depends on the health of the underlying stroma and the surrounding microenvironment, as well as on the nutrients provided by the tear film. Reconstruction of the cornea and conjunctiva requires the provision of a relatively healthy stroma and basement membrane for their epithelial growth, on the one hand, and the presence of viable ocular surface epithelial stem cells (self-retained or transplanted), on the other. Reconstruction of the stroma can be successful by providing a fibrous collagen scaffold (conjunctival graft, amniotic membrane graft, lamellar corneal graft). Corneal rim grafting, in turn, can provide corneal epithelial stem cells. Another prerequisite for corneal and conjunctival reconstruction is the approximate normalization of the tear film. In patients with severe dry eye, any corneal or conjunctival graft-based reconstructive surgery will face failure. Therefore, certain therapeutic measures should be taken to improve the dry eye symptoms in order to prepare for the later corneal and conjunctival reconstruction. The health of the tear film depends on the normal composition and content of the tear fluid, and is also inextricably linked to the integrity of the eyelid and the health of its innervated nerves. Reconstruction of the tear film includes both the reconstruction of tear secretion (parotid duct transplantation, submandibular gland transplantation) and the reconstruction of tear transport (eyelid shaping and reconstruction). In conclusion, the cornea, conjunctiva and tear film and their corresponding participating elements should be considered as a holistic concept in the process of ocular surface reconstruction. When reconstructing the ocular surface, the interplay between the cornea, conjunctiva and tear film should be fully considered, taking into account the origin of the ocular surface epithelium and the microenvironmental conditions of the graft bed. Any mishandling and delay may affect the success of ocular surface reconstruction. Different degrees and ranges of lid adhesions and corneal rim injuries lead to different degrees of ocular surface defects, which are treated differently. We established a new grading scheme based on the severity of lid adhesions and the degree of stem cell loss, and used a combined approach of amniotic membrane, stem cells and orofacial mucosa to reconstruct the ocular surface for each of the three levels of ocular surface disease to improve the appearance while restoring the ocular surface and improving visual acuity.