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In vivo confocal microscopy in the patients with cornea farinata
Akira Kobayashi1, Shinji Ohkubo, Shigeki Tagawa
1Department of Ophthalmology, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa, Japan. kobaya@kenroku.kanazawa-u.ac.jp
Purpose:
To report in vivo corneal confocal microscopic findings of patients with cornea farinata.
Patients And Methods:
Two unrelated patients, a 47-year-old man and a 77-year-old woman, with cornea farinata were studied. Examination with a confocal microscope was performed in addition to routine slit-lamp biomicroscopy.
Results:
In both cases, slit-lamp biomicroscopy showed numerous small, faint opacities in the deep stroma in both eyes. Using confocal microscopy, highly reflective small particles were observed in the cytoplasm of keratocytes in the deep stroma adjacent to the corneal endothelial layer. No abnormalities could be detected in the epithelial layer, in the mid-stromal layer, at the level of Descemet's membrane, and in the endothelial layer.
Conclusions:
In vivo corneal confocal microscopy is useful for observing stromal abnormalities in cornea farinata. Further investigation of posterior stromal opacities using confocal microscopy may be useful to understand and differentiate various corneal conditions involving primarily deep stromal layers.