Wound healing after filtering surgery in owl monkeys
D. C. Desjardins, R. K. Parrish 2nd, R. Folberg, J. Nevarez, D. K. Heuer and M. G. Gressel
We performed posterior lip sclerectomies in 29 owl monkey eyes to determine
the natural history of wound healing after filtering surgery without
adjunctive antimetabolite therapy. We noted three phases of wound healing
during clinical and histologic examination: early healing (days 2 to 6),
intermediate healing (days 7 to 9), and late healing (days 10 to 14). In
the early healing phase, all limbal fistulas except one remained open
gonioscopically, but by day 6, fibroblasts had proliferated along the walls
of the opening. Proliferation and migration of fibroblasts continued during
the intermediate healing phase to completely occlude four and to partially
occlude two of the ten fistulas in the eyes studied during this time. In
the late healing phase, the limbal fistula was completely closed by
granulation tissue in four of five eyes and was slitlike open in one eye.
In this model of filtering surgery, wound healing at the sclerectomy site
with obliteration of the limbal opening by proliferating fibroblasts
occurred within the first 14 postoperative days. We believe that the
short-term effects of newer treatments designed to alter wound healing
after filtering surgery may be assessed in this model, which is
characterized by predictable and prompt wound healing.
