Evaluation of Corneal Vessels

Abstract

Corneal new vessels can result in significant loss of vision as well as reduce graft survival. Recently, newer treatment modalities have been introduced. However, attempts to meet the challenge of evaluating corneal vessels by quantification are evolving.In vivoevaluations range from computer-aided analysis of colour images to determination of area, diameter and tortuousity of blood vessels on indocyanine green angiography images. Attempts at developing a fully automated process of evaluation and quantification are hampered by the anatomical variations of limbus, random nature of blood vessels and multiple levels of involvement of the corneal stroma. Currently, semi-automated methods require manually fixing the limbus prior to quantification of vessels. Using indocyanine green angiography, the full extent of corneal vessels even in the presence of scarring can be determined. With the evolution of new techniques, it is hoped that a robust corneal vessel quantifying tool will be described in the near future that will aid the effectiveness of treatment strategies.