Impression cytology of the conjunctival epithelium in patients with chronic renal failure
Dilek Dursuna, Beyhan Demirhanb, Sibel Otoa, Pinar Aydina
a Department of
Ophthalmology, Baskent University, School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey, b Department of Pathology
Correspondence to: Dr Pinar Aydin, Baskent University, Goz Bolumu, 10 Sok No 45, 06490, Ankara, Turkey
Accepted for publication 26 April 2000
AIMS
To assess ocular
surface changes in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF), to
compare the results with the degree of corneo-conjunctival calcium
deposits, and to determine whether precipitation of calcium salts
predisposes ocular surface modifications.
METHODSImpression
cytology from 50 CRF patients on regular haemodialysis and 22 age and
sex matched control subjects were studied. Specimens were obtained from
the temporal bulbar conjunctiva using cellulose acetate filter paper.
The samples were fixed in 95% ethanol, stained with the periodic acid
Schiff (PAS) stain, and evaluated by light microscopy and were graded
by a masked observer. Corneo-conjunctival calcification was graded by
the Porter and Crombie classification.
RESULTSIn the study
group, three patients (6%) disclosed grade 0, 14 patients (28%) grade
1, and 33 patients (66%) grade 2-3 cytological changes. There was a
statistically significant difference between the patient and the
control groups (p= 0.0007), but no correlation could be found between
the impression cytology grades and the calcium deposit grades (p=0.62).
CONCLUSIONThe ocular
surfaces of CRF patients differ significantly from those of normal
individuals, and it can be detected using impression cytology. These
data suggest that the severity of conjunctival changes are not related
to the presence or extent of calcium deposition.
© 2000 by British Journal of Ophthalmology
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