The use of amniotic membrane in ophthalmic surgery and other surgical procedures in the fields of dermatology, plastic surgery, genitourinary medicine and otolaryngology is on the increase. Furthermore, amniotic membrane and its epithelial and mesenchymal cells have broad use in regenerative medicine and hold great promise in anticancer treatment. Amniotic membrane is a rich source of biologically active factors and as such, promotes healing and acts as an effective material for wound dressing. Amniotic membrane supports epithelialization and exhibits anti-fibrotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic and anti-microbial features. Placentas utilised in the preparation of amniotic membrane are retrieved from donors undergoing elective caesarean section. Maternal blood must undergo serological screening at the time of donation and, in the absence of advanced diagnostic testing techniques, 6 months postpartum in order to cover the time window for the potential transmission of communicable diseases. Amniotic membrane is prepared by blunt dissection under strict aseptic conditions, then is typically transferred onto a nitrocellulose paper carrier, usually with the epithelial side up, and cut into multiple pieces of different dimensions. Amniotic membrane can be stored under various conditions, most often cryopreserved in glycerol or dimethyl sulfoxide or their mixture with culture medium or buffers. Other preservation methods include lyophilisation and air-drying. In ophthalmology, amniotic membrane is increasingly used for ocular surface reconstruction, including the treatment of persistent epithelial defects and non-healing corneal ulcers, corneal perforations and descemetoceles, bullous keratopathy, as well as corneal disorders with associated limbal stem cell deficiency, pterygium, conjunctival reconstruction, corneoscleral melts and perforations, and glaucoma surgeries.

Laboratory of the Biology and Pathology of the Eye Institute of Inherited Metabolic Disorders General Teaching Hospital and 1st Faculty of Medicine Charles University Czech Republic Ke Karlovu 2 128 08 Prague 2 Czech Republic

The Veneto Eye Bank Foundation Padiglione Rama Via Paccagnella n 11 30174 Zelarino Venice Italy

References provided by Crossref.org

Cryopreserved amniotic membrane in chronic nonhealing wounds: a series of case reports

Inter-placental variability is not a major factor affecting the healing efficiency of amniotic membrane when used for treating chronic non-healing wounds

Quantification of Analgesic and Anti-Inflammatory Lipid Mediators in Long-Term Cryopreserved and Freeze-Dried Preserved Human Amniotic Membrane

Distribution of an analgesic palmitoylethanolamide and other N-acylethanolamines in human placental membranes

The healing dynamics of non-healing wounds using cryo-preserved amniotic membrane

The enzymatic de-epithelialization technique determines denuded amniotic membrane integrity and viability of harvested epithelial cells