[Xerophthalmia in liver cirrhosis. Correct diagnosis after 15 years]

The clinical features of xerophthalmia are described in a 60-year-old patient, who was known to have alcoholic cirrhosis. In this patient, vitamin A deficiency, which presumably had been overlooked for 15 years, was confirmed by determination of the serum vitamin A level. After substitutive vitamin A therapy, superficial punctate keratitis and conjunctival xerosis disappeared completely. Although xerophthalmia has only sporadically been described in developed countries, we point out that the possibility of a vitamin A deficiency should also be considered in cases of recurrent conjunctival and corneal lesions.