Transplantation of Acellular Corneal Matrix to Treat Corneal Ulcer

Infections, chemical injury, and other diseases result in acute or chronic corneal ulcer, which may damage corneal stroma and may lead to permanent corneal scars and blindness. Corneal transplantation is standard method for corneal ulcer, but severe shortage of donor corneas limits its application. Acellular porcine corneal matrix is similar to the native cornea, especially with the biological property and microstructure. Recently, this matrix has been proved to be safe when transplanted to animal subjects and will not be rejected by the recipient. In animal lamellar keratoplasty experiments, acellular corneal matrix showed that they can integrate into the corneal wound bed and help reconstruction of the lamellar integrity of corneal stroma. This study will investigate its healing effect on human corneal ulcer. It will provide a potential corneal substitute for this disease.