[Corneal dystrophy (CD)-induced pain and visual impairment in childhood]

Many forms of the 25 corneal dystrophies (CD) manifest already in childhood with bilateral corneal opacities without any visual impairment in most cases. Pain attacks due to recurrent erosion with red eye and epiphora can occur in combination with the first dystrophy-specific corneal opacities, e.g., nest-like lattice lines + corneal erosion in lattice CD. Often we can observe a joint occurrence. The parents accompany their child to consult the ophthalmologist concerning the recurrent and joint pain attacks. The ophthalmologist can also diagnose in such a situation subtle corneal opacities on the painless, contralateral eye, e.g., those of lattice, granular, macular or Reis-Bücklers CD. The correct interpretation of this combination does not lead the ophthalmologist to an inflammatory-, but to a dystrophy-induced interpretation of this entity. In a further group of CD, e.g., in Franceschetti CD, the typical history of this entity is a dominant disorder with recurrent epithelial erosions starting in the first decade, declining in frequency and severity at a later age, and associated with a central, disk-like haze of the subepithelial cornea from middle age. The recurrent erosions in childhood lasted 3-5 days and were followed by complete recovery. Congenital corneal clouding in the form of a milky ground-glass appearance can be observed in the rare endothelial CD, such as in congenital hereditary endothelial dystrophy 1 and 2 (CHED 1 and 2), X-linked endothelial CD (XECD), and in posterior polymorphous CD (PPCD). The differential diagnosis for congenital glaucoma is of essential importance. The parents of babies with congenital corneal opacification should be examined at the slit-lamp to in- or exclude the appearance of mooncrater-like endothelial changes.