The change of corneal microstructural of patients with ocular surface squamous neoplasia after treatment with topical interferon alfa-2b and 5-fluorouracil

Abstract

Objective To observe the change of corneal microstructural of patients with ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN) after treatment with topical interferon alfa-2b (IFNα-2b) and 5-fluorouracil(5-FU). Methods A retrospective case series study.Total of 16 eyes of 16 patients with OSSN were treated with topical IFNα-2b (1 million IU/mL) and 1% 5-FU four times a day.The inneoplastic lesion and the cornea under involved areas were observed with in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) before and after treatment. Results Main features of OSSN at 4 months after treatment showed reduction reflectivity of epithelial cells, loss of cellular pleomorphism and demarcation line between normal and neoplastic tissue. Basal cell layers containing bright dots were found to diminish or disappear gradually. Other change was the reappearance of distinctsubbasal nerves. A few dendritic cells appeared as bright cellular particles with small dendritic processes that transformed into large and highly reflective arborizing cells were found. Conclusion The reduced reflectivity and polymorphhism of epithelial cells, and the increasing density of limbal dendritic cells after topical IFNα-2b and 5-FU therapy are observed with IVCM. Key words: Neoplasia, squamous, ocular surface; Cell, dendritic; Microscopy, in vivo, confocal