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

Autor(es)

Barbosa, Amanda Pires ^{[1, 2]} ; Alves, Monica ^[3] ; Fortes Furtado, Joao Marcello ^{[1, 2]} ; Adriano, Leidiane ^{[1, 2]} ; Nominato, Luis Fernando ^{[1, 2]} ; Dias, Lara Cristina ^{[1, 2]} ; Fantucci, Marina Zilio ^{[1, 2]} ; Batista Murashima, Adriana de Andrade ^{[1, 2]} ; Rocha, Eduardo Melani ^{[1, 2]}

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Med Ribeirao Preto, Res Core Ocular Physiopathol & Therapeut, Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Med Ribeirao Preto, Dept Ophthalmol Otorhinolaryngol & Head & Neck Su, Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

^[3] Univ Estadual Campinas, Fac Ciencias Med, Dept Ophthalmol & Otorhinolaryngol, Campinas, SP - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo de Revisão
• Fonte: Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia; v. 83, n. 5, p. 437-446, SEP-OCT 2020.
• Citações Web of Science: 0

Resumo

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)

• Processo FAPESP: 14/22451-7 - Sistemas de liberação sustentada e direcionada de fármacos para o tecido epitelial
• Beneficiário: Renata Fonseca Vianna Lopez
• Linha de fomento: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Temático