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Updated: Jun 20, 2026
An “All-laser” Endothelial Transplant
Published on: July 6, 2015
Autologous Glueless Simple Limbal Epithelial Transplantation for Unilateral Stem Cell Deficiency Using Femtosecond
Boris Malyugin1,2, Svetlana Kalinnikova2, Olga Nefedova2
1UCLA Department of Ophthalmology, Stein Eye Institute, Los Angeles, CA.
Purpose:
To evaluate the first clinical results of corneal surface reconstruction with the help of a femtosecond laser (FSL)-full FSL-assisted autologous glueless simple limbal epithelial transplantation (Full FSL G-SLET) for unilateral limbal stem cell deficiency.
Methods:
After chemical eye burns, 3 patients underwent Full FSL G-SLET procedures, including 2 critical laser-assisted steps: harvesting of the 8 autologous limbal micrografts from the healthy eyes and placing them into laser-cut nonpenetrating corneal tunnels performed on the affected eye.
Results:
The donor eyes recovered very quickly, and 3 to 4 weeks after surgery, a small scar in the limbal area formed with no adverse effects on visual acuity. Three patients had various rates of corneal reepithelization of the recipient eyes: 1 month, 1.5 months, and 4 months postoperatively. Complete corneal epithelialization was achieved in all cases. The epithelial layer was stable for 12 months postoperatively, as confirmed by corneal staining with low-molecular-weight fluorescein and anterior segment optical coherence tomography. Visual acuity improvement was observed in all 3 patients.
Conclusions:
This is the first report of successful clinical use of FSL for autologous G-SLET surgical procedures when the laser was used not only to create corneal tunnels for autologous limbal micrograft fixation but also for their in vivo harvesting and fragmentation.
