[Advantages of the in vivo HRT2 corneal confocal microscope for investigation of the ocular surface epithelia].

PURPOSE: To show the advantages of the in vivo HRT2 confocal microscope corneal module for studying the superficial and peripheral corneal and conjunctival epithelia.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

We examined 15 patients whose superficial cornea was healthy and ten patients with keratoconjunctivitis sicca and/or rosacea. Some conjunctival imprints where taken on patients with superficial ocular disease and examined by immunofluorescence.

RESULTS

We found superficial corneal epithelial cells, corneoconjunctival Langerhans and dendritic cells, goblet cells, limbic epithelial junction, new blood vessels, as well as deeper corneal structures such as Bowman's membrane, keratocytes, corneal nerves, and endothelium. We also observed pathological corneal epithelium in keratoconjunctivitis sicca and substantial inflammatory and vascular changes in rosacea. In two cases of stem cell deficiency associated with rosacea, we observed goblet cells in the corneal epithelium. An interesting anatomical-clinical parallelism between in vivo confocal microscopy images and those obtained by ex vivo immunofluorescence was observed.

DISCUSSION: Central corneal pictures after explorations by in vivo HRT2 confocal microscopy are similar to those obtained with standard confocal microscopy. But conjunctiva, peripheral cornea and limbus are better examined at the surface and at medium depth with the HRT2. Diagnosis and therapy of superficial corneoconjunctival and limbal diseases are therefore made easier in vivo.