Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 15, 2025
Murine Corneal Transplantation: A Model to Study the Most Common Form of Solid Organ Transplantation
Published on: November 17, 2014
Neovascularization against autologous SLET donor grafts despite successful corneal epithelialization and graft
1Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Purpose:
To report a case of neovascularization against autologous grafts after simple limbal epithelial transplantation (SLET) despite successful corneal epithelialization, as well as its subsequent regression without intervention.
Methods:
A case report and review of the literature.
Results:
A 52-year-old woman underwent uncomplicated autologous SLET for asymmetric limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) in the left eye. One month after the surgery, the patient had successful adherence of the graft and corneal epithelialization; however, new neovascularization developed in the left eye towards the graft sites. With only a slow taper of topical prednisolone acetate and polymyxin b/trimethoprim, the neovascularization regressed to ghost vessels over the following three months with improvement of her LSCD symptoms and increased clarity of her cornea.
Conclusion:
The limbus does not enjoy relative immune privilege like other parts of the eye; therefore, autologous limbal stem cell transplantation (along with the minimal immune response generated) is valuable for restoration of the ocular surface. Here, we describe neovascularization against autologous donor grafts despite an otherwise uncomplicated surgery and expected epithelialization course. Inflammation-mediated angiogenesis likely initiated the neovascularization, suggesting that immune mediators of inflammation may be inadvertently part of the graft tissue in bilateral LSCD.
