[The cyanoacrylate tissue adhesives in treatment diseases of the anterior eye segment].

The cyanoacrylates were first synthesized in 1949 by H. Coover. They are used in medicine for over 50 years. The main advantage of synthetic tissue adhesives is cheap and simple production process, which gives possibility of using the cyanoacrylates in many surgical disciplines of medicine. That makes also synthetic tissue adhesives better than biological tissue glue (for example fibrin- based adhesives) which preparation is much more complicated and expensive. Nowadays the cyanoacrylates are often used in ophthalmology, mostly in treatment diseases of the anterior segment--for example corneal thinning, ulceration and perforation of cornea. In this paper possible uses of cyanoacrylate tissue adhesives in ophthalmology are presented. The method of application of the cyanoacrylates on the surface of damaged cornea is presented. On base of analysis provided in many clinical centres, the advantages, disadvantages and clinical effects of using tissue adhesives are discussed in this paper. The latest results of using cyanoacrylate tissue adhesives in anterior segment surgery, especially in closing corneal incisions made during cataract operation are presented too. The article contains also information about experimental researches relating to application tissue glue in vitreoretinal surgery and operative glaucoma treatment.