Jaegwan Cha

Successful treatment of an unusually large corneal epithelial inclusion cyst using equine amniotic membrane in a dog.

A 10-year-old intact male Yorkshire Terrier was referred for investigation of a large raised and nonpainful corneal lesion oculus dexter. Clinical examination revealed a pale, translucent corneal mass, which occupied half of the corneal surface and measured 11 mm x 11 mm x 13 mm. The mass was removed by superficial keratectomy and equine amniotic membrane (AM) was transplanted into the large corneal defect to cover the wound and provide tectonic support for the remaining cornea. The mass was histologically confirmed as a corneal epithelial inclusion cyst. There was no evidence of recurrence or complication at the surgical site 100 days postoperatively. Corneal epithelial inclusion cysts are uncommon in dogs. Although superficial keratectomy is the recommended treatment for corneal inclusion cyst, the combination of superficial keratectomy and AM transplantation had to be considered as an alternative for repair of large corneal defects. This is the first case report of the combined application of AM and superficial keratectomy to successfully treat a corneal inclusion cyst in a dog.

Nanobiotechnology approach to fabricate polycaprolactone nanofibers containing solid titanium nanoparticles as future implant materials

Abstract In this study, a good combination of electrospun poly(caprolactone) nanofibers incorporated with high purity titanium nanoparticles is introduced for hard tissue engineering applications. A simple approach to utilize the colloidal properties of poly(caprolactone) and titanium nanoparticles are exploited to form nanofibers by the simple electrospinning process. The prepared colloidal solutions were characterized using dynamic light scattering and electrophoratic light scattering which indicated unimodal size distribution and negative zeta potential. To investigate the bioactivity of the resultant nanofiber mats, they were incubated in simulated body fluid at 37 °C for 10 days. Field emission scanning electron microscopy in combination with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy indicated that incorporation of titanium strongly activates precipitation of the apatite-like materials from the utilized simulated body fluid. Moreover, in-vivo experiments using experimental dogs revealed that nanofibers can yield good tissue regeneration on the surfaces of nanofibers.