Purpose

To investigate the optical transmittance and ultrastructure of small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE)-derived lenticules preserved via three different methods.

Methods

A total of 90 lenticules obtained from myopic patients undergoing SMILE surgery were divided into control and experimental groups. Fresh lenticules served as the control. The preserved lenticules of the experimental group were randomly divided into three subgroups according to different storage conditions: anhydrous glycerol, silicone oil and allochroic silica gel groups. Optical transmittance was evaluated, histological changes were analysed by haematoxylin eosin (HE) staining, and collagen fibril densities and necrotic response were assessed via transmission electron microscopy (TEM) at 48 h, 14 days and 4 weeks.

Results

After storage for 4 weeks, the mean percentage transmittance values in glycerol and silicone oil groups significantly decreased (P = 0.034 and P = 0.042, respectively), but the lenticules preserved in silica gel remained unchanged when compared with the control lenticules. In all the groups, HE staining results showed a regular arrangement of collagen fibers with a few keratocytes and several cavitation bubbles. TEM revealed that the fibril densities in the glycerol group (273.70 ± 31.42/μm²) after 4 weeks were significant less than those in the other two groups (silicone oil, 335.20 ± 33.09/μm²; silica gel, 371.80 ± 37.60/μm²) and control group (340 ± 33.61/μm²) (all P < 0.001). In each group, a few necrotic and apoptotic keratocytes were observed.

Conclusions

All the three agents, namely glycerol, silicone oil and silica gel, could be used for lenticule preservation. Silica gel facilitates better maintenance of optical transmittance than the other two agents.

中文翻译：

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三种不同防腐方法对SMILE衍生的微透镜的透光率和超微结构

目的

研究通过三种不同方法保存的小切口小孔提取（SMILE）衍生的小孔的透光率和超微结构。

方法

将从接受SMILE手术的近视患者获得的90个微透镜分为对照组和实验组。新鲜的小孔用作对照。根据不同的保存条件，将实验组的保留的微透镜随机分为三个亚组：无水甘油，硅油和异色硅胶组。评估透光率，通过苏木精曙红（HE）染色分析组织学变化，并在48 h，14天和4周通过透射电子显微镜（TEM）评估胶原纤维密度和坏死反应。

结果

储存4周后，甘油和硅油组的平均透射率百分比值显着下降（分别为P = 0.034和P = 0.042），但与对照微透镜相比，硅胶中保留的微透镜保持不变。在所有组中，HE染色结果均显示胶原纤维排列规则，并带有一些角膜细胞和一些空化气泡。TEM显示，甘油组（273.70±31.42个/μm在原纤维密度²）4周后均显著小于那些在其他两组（硅油，335.20±33.09个/μm ² ;硅胶，371.80±37.60个/μm ²）和对照组（340±33.61个/μm ²）（所有P <0.001）。在每组中，观察到一些坏死和凋亡性角膜细胞。

结论

甘油，硅油和硅胶这三种试剂均可用于微囊保存。硅胶比其他两种试剂更有利于保持光透射率。