Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Surgical transplant improves cornea in cats with symblepharon
By Irving, William et al.·Published in Veterinary ophthalmology·2026·Eye Clinic for Animals, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Modified Simple Limbal Epithelial Transplant for the Treatment of Symblepharon in Cats: A Pilot Study.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A 3-year-old cat with a condition called symblepharon, where the eyelids are abnormally attached to the eyeball, underwent a special surgery to improve its eye health. The procedure involved taking healthy tissue from the cat's other eye and transplanting it to the affected eye. After the surgery, three out of four cats showed significant improvement in their eye clarity, although one cat developed a corneal infection and did not improve much. Overall, this surgical technique appears to be a promising option for treating this eye problem in cats.
People also search for: cat eye problems · symblepharon treatment in cats · cat corneal infection surgery · feline eye transplant procedure
Abstract
PURPOSE: To describe a surgical technique to treat keratoconjunctival symblepharon with a modified simple limbal epithelial transplant (SLET). METHODS: Four cats underwent an autologous modified SLET from a normal contralateral eye to the recipient eye. Patients were scored preoperatively and postoperatively based on the degree of cornea affected and the corneal clarity. RESULTS: Three of the four cases had significant improvements in both their corneal clarity scores and the amount of cornea occupied by conjunctiva. One case developed a corneal infection in the recipient eye 1 month postoperatively, with minimal improvements being made to the corneal clarity. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that autologous limbal transplants can be an effective surgical treatment for unilateral feline keratoconjunctival symblepharon. Compared to published results of surgical removal alone, limbal transplants can result in more corneal clarity and less cornea affected by symblepharon. Further investigation is warranted to refine the procedure as well as determine whether allogenic transplantation is effective in cases of bilateral symblepharon.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40725998/