Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 13, 2026
A Simple Mechanical Procedure to Create Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency in Mouse
Published on: November 17, 2016
Histopathological Characteristics of Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency Secondary to Chronic Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis
Pragnya R Donthineni1, Shobhit Varma1, Abhinav Kethiri2
1The Cornea Institute, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India.
Purpose:
To describe the histopathological characteristics of limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) due to chronic vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC).
Methods:
This retrospective study included 14 eyes of 13 patients who underwent simple limbal epithelial transplantation for total LSCD from 2017 to 2018. The histological characteristics of the excised fibrovascular pannus were compared between 2 groups of 7 eyes, each with LSCD due to VKC and chemical burns (CB). Histological characteristics and type of inflammation were studied using special stains and immunohistochemistry. Fisher exact test was used to detect the statistical significance of the histological differences between both groups.
Results:
Epithelial hypertrophy, epithelial downgrowth, and eosinophilic infiltration were noted in all eyes in the VKC group (7/7, 100%). Epithelial hypertrophy was noted in 3 of the 7 (42.8%) eyes in the CB group, whereas epithelial downgrowth and eosinophilic infiltrates were absent. The average chronic inflammatory score of the pannus (5.28) was higher in VKC than in CB (3.85; P = 0.1080). The presence of goblet cells was higher in the CB group (5/7, 1.4%) than in the VKC group (3/4, 2.8%), although not statistically significant. Other histological differences between the groups were not statistically significant.
Conclusions:
The histopathological features of LSCD in VKC reveal some distinctive characteristics. These include the presence of epithelial downgrowth, eosinophilic infiltration, and epithelial solid and cystic implants. Although this information may be used to establish the diagnostic criteria for VKC as the cause of LSCD, further studies are needed to elucidate the reasons behind these unique findings.
