ABSTRACT.Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the long-term treatment efficacy of glycerine-preserved human amniotic membrane transplantation in patients suffering from corneal ulcers. Methods: This was a retrospective, non-controlled, monocentric analysis. Included were patients with corneal ulcers that were non-responsive to ointment or contact lenses and had been treated by amniotic membrane transplantation with either the overlay or sandwich procedure. Analysis parameters were visual acuity before and following treatment, recurrence rate and subjective comfort at the last follow-up. Results: Of the 371 amniotic membrane transplantations that were conducted, 135 surgical treatments in 108 patients (51.9% male, 48.1% female; mean age 63.7 years) met the inclusion criteria. In total, 99 overlay and 36 multilayer amniotic membrane transplantations were performed. The follow-up period was 47.5 AE 66.7 weeks (mean AE SD). The recurrence rate at the last follow-up was 47.8% with overlay membranes and 51.8% with the sandwich technique. There was no significant change in best-corrected visual acuity following treatment with overlays (p = 0.219) or sandwich procedure (p = 0.703). At the last follow-up, 72.1% (overlay) and 78.3% (sandwich) of the patients reported either no pain or increased comfort. Conclusion: The recurrence rates and changes in visual acuity following overlay or sandwich amniotic membrane transplantation in patients suffering from corneal ulcer were lower than reported elsewhere in the literature. More than half of the patients profited from each of the amniotic membrane transplantation techniques with respect to recurrence and postoperative comfort.

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Purpose: Endometriosis can significantly impair the quality of life of those affected. Multimodal self-help measures are recommended but often difficult to access. Smartphone apps have been shown to improve quality of life for other conditions with chronic pain. The aim of this study was to examine whether there is evidence of beneficial effects of the smartphone app “Endo-App®” and whether a multicenter randomized controlled trial should be planned to substantiate these effects. Methods: In a sample of N=106 women affected by endometriosis the present study determined the influence of the use of Endo-App ® on their quality of life. Among others, the validated questionnaire Endometriosis Health Profile from Oxford University was used for this purpose. Results: The use of Endo-App ® lead to a highly significant improvement in quality of life already after two weeks. A statistically significant change was found for nine out of ten measured variables of quality of life. A series of further analyses validated that the measured positive effects were not due to other confounding factors. Conclusion: In summary, the results indicate that the quality of life of women with endometriosis improved by the digital self-management tool Endo-App ®. More studies are needed to further explore the influence of the app on quality of life and as confirmatory evidence of beneficial effects. For this purpose, a randomized controlled trial should be conducted over a longer period of time. Trial registration: This trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov under the registration number NCT05528601 on August 18, 2022. It was retrospectively registered.

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