Caracterización de la citología de impresión corneal en la especie canina y su aplicación en el diagnóstico de la queratoconjuntivitis seca (QCS)

Abstract

Corneal impression cytology is an atraumatic, simple, fast, lacking side effects technique that allows to study the outermost cell layers of the ocular surface, enabling the diagnosis of diseases and the monitoring during and after treatment. This Doctoral Thesis has sought to standardize the technique of obtaining and processing samples by corneal impression cytology on the canine species, determine the morphological and morphometric physiological parameters of corneal epithelial cells in healthy dogs and set corneal cellular alterations during canine KCS. The correlation between corneal epithelium alterations and lacrimal production, assessed using Schirmer tear test I (STT I), has also been studied. This study included 60 dogs of different breeds that were divided into two populations: group I, formed by healthy patients, with Schirmer tear test I (STT I) values equal or greater than 15 mm/min, and group II, which included patients diagnosed with KCS, with STT I values between 0 and 14 mm/min. The eyes of the animals in group II were categorized in turn into 3 subgroups, establishing the severity of the disease based on the results of the STT I as severe, moderate or mild. In order to ease the collection and handling of samples, adapt the technique for use in animals and minimize any iatrogenic injury on the ocular surface, a simple and effective device was used, other than those that have traditionally been used in human and veterinary ophthalmology. The morphometric evaluation of the cells was performed according to the criteria of cellularity of the sample, intercellular separation, cell morphology, cytoplasmic staining, cell area, nuclear area, N:C ratio and nuclear alterations ...