SynthesisThe British journal of ophthalmology2022
Identification of presumed corneal neuromas and microneuromas using laser-scanning in vivo confocal microscopy: a systematic review.
Synthesis in The British journal of ophthalmology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Utility of Oral Vitamin B1 and Mecobalamin to Improve Corneal Nerves in Dry Eye Disease: An In Vivo Confocal Microscopy Study.Nutrients · 2022Trial
- IVCM-Insight: automated interactive interpretation of in vivo confocal microscopy.NPJ digital medicine · 2026Article
- Corneal Innervation Research at a Crossroads: A Tool-Driven Roadmap for the Future.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2026Review
- Corneal confocal microscopy in fibromyalgia syndrome: small fiber neuropathy, and treatment outcomes.Eye (London, England) · 2026Article
- Associations of tear mediators with ocular surface symptoms, signs, and corneal nerve morphology in dry eye disease: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Association of a novel meibomian gland dysfunction composite score with corneal nerve parameters and ocular surface symptoms in dry eye disease.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- SuperCCM: An Open Source Python Toolkit for Automated Quantification of Corneal Nerve Fibers in Confocal Microscopy Images.Translational vision science & technology · 2025Article
- In vivo confocal microscopy provides evidence of corneal nerve damage and basal tear film reduction in patients treated with oral isotretinoin.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Article
- Redefining our vision: an updated guide to the ocular immune system.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2024Review
- Deep-learning based analysis of in-vivo confocal microscopy images of the subbasal corneal nerve plexus' inferior whorl in patients with neuropathic corneal pain and dry eye disease.The ocular surface · 2024Article
- Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid-1 Channels Facilitate Axonal Degeneration of Corneal Sensory Nerves in Dry Eye.The American journal of pathology · 2024Article
- Coexistence of neuropathic corneal pain, corneal nerve abnormalities, depression, and low quality of life.Eye (London, England) · 2024Article
- Reducing the stress of corneal neuropathic pain: 'Pain without Stain'.Eye (London, England) · 2024Article
- Clinical associations of corneal neuromas with ocular surface diseases.Neural regeneration research · 2024Review
- Neuroinflammatory Findings of Corneal Confocal Microscopy in Long COVID-19 Patients, 2 Years after Acute SARS-CoV-2 Infection.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Light sheet fluorescence microscopy of cleared human eyes.Communications biology · 2023Article
- Occurrence of corneal sub-epithelial microneuromas and axonal swelling in people with diabetes with and without (painful) diabetic neuropathy.Diabetologia · 2023Article
- Update on Corneal Confocal Microscopy Imaging.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Corneal nerves and their role in dry eye pathophysiology.Experimental eye research · 2022Review
- Corneal Nerve Changes Observed by In Vivo Confocal Microscopy in Patients Receiving Oxaliplatin for Colorectal Cancer: The COCO Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
aimsThis systematic review critically evaluated peer-reviewed publications describing morphological features consistent with, or using terms related to, a 'neuroma' or 'microneuroma' in the human cornea using laser-scanning in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM).
methodsThe review was prospectively registered on PROSPERO (CRD42020160038). Comprehensive literature searches were performed in Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase and the Cochrane Library in November 2019. The review included primary research studies and reviews that described laser-scanning IVCM for examining human corneal nerves. Papers had to include at least one of a pre-specified set of keyword stems, broadly related to neuromas and microneuromas, to describe a corneal nerve feature.
resultsTwenty-five papers (20 original studies; 5 reviews) were eligible. Three original studies evaluated corneal nerve features in healthy eyes. Most papers assessed corneal nerves in ocular and systemic conditions; seven studies did not include a control/comparator group. There was overlap in terminology used to describe nerve features in healthy and diseased corneas (eg, bulb-like/bulbous, penetration, end/s/ing). Inspection of IVCM images within the papers revealed that features termed 'neuromas' and 'microneuromas' could potentially be physiological corneal stromal-epithelial nerve penetration sites. We identified inconsistent definitions for terms, and limitations in IVCM image acquisition, sampling and/or reporting that may introduce bias and lead to inaccurate representation of physiological nerve characteristics as pathological.
conclusionThese findings identify a need for consistent nomenclature and definitions, and rigorous IVCM scanning and analysis protocols to clarify the prevalence of physiological, as opposed to pathological, corneal nerve features.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.