Cryopreserved amniotic membrane significantly improves ocular surface integrity in patients with severe keratoconjunctivitis sicca and neurotrophic keratopathy
Alain Bauza, MD, of Freehold Ophthalmology, spoke with Ophthalmology 360 at the 2026 ASCRS Annual Meeting about a study that assessed the use of cryopreserved amniotic membrane in patients with dry eye and neurotrophic keratitis who did not show improvement with topical therapy.
Alain Bauza, MD:
My name is Alain Bauza, MD. I’m a ophthalmologist with Freehold Ophthalmology in Freehold, New Jersey, and my poster was on the treatment of ocular surface disease with cryopreserved amniotic membrane.
This study looked at 19 eyes in 14 patients who had been undergoing optimized therapy with topical therapy for ocular surface disease, specifically dry eye, stage 1 neurotrophic keratitis, superficial punctate keratitis. We looked at using cryopreserved amniotic membrane for treating those patients who still had not had improved symptoms. The study, we use basically cryopreserved tissue placed on a collagen shield, patching the eye for 48 hours and reevaluating their signs and symptoms, including visual acuity, punctate staining, tear breakup time, corneal nerve sensation.
Pretty much across the board, patients had significant improvement in all those markers up to the first month of treatment, and still probably about 60% to 70% of patients had sustained improvement at 3-month marks. For us, it’s been a way to utilize a different treatment modality for ocular surface disease besides our typical sort of topical therapies that we think of when we are treating these patients.
Related Content
