Corneal blindness in Plato’s cave: the acting forces to prevent and revert corneal opacity. Part I: epidemiology and new physiopathological concepts

Author(s)

Amanda Pires Barbosa ^[1] ; Monica Alves ^[2] ; João Marcello Fortes Furtado ^[3] ; Leidiane Adriano ^[4] ; Luis Fernando Nominato ^[5] ; Lara Cristina Dias ^[6] ; Marina Zilio Fantucci ^[7] ; Adriana de Andrade Batista Murashima ^[8] ; Eduardo Melani Rocha ^[9]

Affiliation

^[1] Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto. Department of Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery - Brasil

^[2] Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Faculdade de Ciências Médicas. Department of Ophthalmology and Otorhinolaryngology - Brasil

^[3] Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto. Department of Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery - Brasil

^[4] Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto. Department of Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery - Brasil

^[5] Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto. Department of Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery - Brasil

^[6] Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto. Department of Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery - Brasil

^[7] Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto. Department of Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery - Brasil

^[8] Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto. Department of Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery - Brasil

^[9] Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto. Department of Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery - Brasil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia; v. 83, n. 5, p. 437-446, 2020-10-08.

Abstract

ABSTRACT The burden of corneal blindness and visual deficiency can be felt worldwide. Its association with several endemic diseases such as childhood blindness, trauma, infectious keratitis (including variants caused by herpes, hanseniasis, and fungi), vitamin A deficiency, diabetes mellitus, and other dry eye syndromes reflects its poorly understood underlying mechanisms and suggests that the actual frequency of the disease is underestimated. The low effectiveness of preventive and therapeutic strategies against corneal scarring or deformity predicts a high frequency of patients with corneal blindness in the future. Corneal blindness is associated with environmental factors and socioeconomic limitations that restrain health assistance and maintain a modest efficiency of the current therapeutic strategies for resolving corneal diseases in large-scale programs. We present here a critical review of the concepts associated with corneal blindness that need to be considered when planning strategies to prevent and treat corneal blindness worldwide (to be able to leave Plato’s cave, where corneal blindness is encaged. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/22451-7 - Sustained drug delivery systems targeting the epithelial tissue
• Grantee: Renata Fonseca Vianna Lopez
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants