Br J Ophthalmol 1997;81:984-988 ( November )

Improved impression cytology techniques for the immunopathological diagnosis of superficial viral infections

M A Thiel,^a W Bossart,^b W Bernauer^a

^a Department of Ophthalmology, University of Zurich, Switzerland, ^b Institute of Medical Virology, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Correspondence to: Michael Thiel, MD, University of Zürich, Department of Ophthalmology, Frauenklinikstrasse 24, CH - 8091 Zurich, Switzerland.

Accepted for publication 26 May 1997

BACKGROUNDFor epidemiological and therapeutic reasons early diagnosis of superficial viral infections is crucial. Conventional microbiological techniques are expensive, time consuming, and not sufficiently sensitive. In this study impression cytology techniques were evaluated to analyse their diagnostic potential in viral infections of the ocular surface.
METHODA Biopore membrane device instead of the original impression cytology technique was used to allow better quality and handling of the specimens. The impressions were processed, using monoclonal antibodies and immunoperoxidase or immunofluorescence techniques to assess the presence of herpes simplex virus, varicella zoster virus, or adenovirus antigens. Ocular surface specimens from healthy individuals (n=10) and from patients with suspected viral surface disease (n=19) were studied. Infected and non-infected cell cultures served as controls.
RESULTSThis modified technique of impression cytology allowed the collection of large conjunctival and corneal epithelial cell layers with excellent morphology. Immunocytological staining of these samples provided diagnostic results for all three viruses in patients with viral surface disease.
CONCLUSIONSThe use of Biopore membrane devices for the collection of ocular surface epithelia offers new diagnostic possibilities for external eye diseases. Immunopathological methods that are applied directly on these membrane devices can provide virological results within 1-4 hours. This contributes considerably to the clinical management of patients with infectious diseases of the ocular surface.

---

© 1997 by British Journal of Ophthalmology
CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

Impression cytology of the ocular surfaceresearch tool or routine clinical investigation?

JOHN DART
Br. J. Ophthalmol. 1997 81: 930. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Joseph, J., Sharma, S., Murthy, S. I., Krishna, P. V., Garg, P., Nutheti, R., Kenneth, J., Balasubramanian, D. (2006). Microsporidial Keratitis in India: 16S rRNA Gene-Based PCR Assay for Diagnosis and Species Identification of Microsporidia in Clinical Samples.. IOVS 47: 4468-4473 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Singh, R, Joseph, A, Umapathy, T, Tint, N L, Dua, H S (2005). Impression cytology of the ocular surface. Br. J. Ophthalmol. 89: 1655-1659 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Noble, B A, Loh, R S K, MacLennan, S, Pesudovs, K, Reynolds, A, Bridges, L R, Burr, J, Stewart, O, Quereshi, S (2004). Comparison of autologous serum eye drops with conventional therapy in a randomised controlled crossover trial for ocular surface disease. Br. J. Ophthalmol. 88: 647-652 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Farhatullah, S, Kaza, S, Athmanathan, S, Garg, P, Reddy, S B, Sharma, S (2004). Diagnosis of herpes simplex virus-1 keratitis using Giemsa stain, immunofluorescence assay, and polymerase chain reaction assay on corneal scrapings. Br. J. Ophthalmol. 88: 142-144 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• McKelvie, P. A, Daniell, M. (2001). Impression cytology following mitomycin C therapy for ocular surface squamous neoplasia. Br. J. Ophthalmol. 85: 1115-1119 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Tole, D. M, McKelvie, P. A, Daniell, M. (2001). Reliability of impression cytology for the diagnosis of ocular surface squamous neoplasia employing the Biopore membrane. Br. J. Ophthalmol. 85: 154-158 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• ELNIFRO, E. M, COOPER, R. J, KLAPPER, P. E, BAILEY, A. S, TULLO, A. B (1999). Diagnosis of viral and chlamydial keratoconjunctivitis: which laboratory test?. Br. J. Ophthalmol. 83: 622-627 [Full Text]  
• PEPOSE;, J. S, THIEL, M., BERNAUER, W. (1998). Improved impression cytology techniques for the immunopathological diagnosis of superficial viral infections. Br. J. Ophthalmol. 82: 1096c-1096 [Full Text]