[Ultrastructural findings in the cornea in xeroderma pigmentosum]

Xeroderma pigmentosum is a very rare disease caused by an inherited defect in the DNA repair system. The cells are less able to repair defects caused by UV radiation, which results in early aging of the skin and the development of malignant skin tumors. Robins assumes that the eye is involved in 60% of the cases. In our patient we found a dense opacity of both corneas in addition to the typical lentiginous alteration of the skin. Therefore, a corneal transplantation was carried out on both eyes. The corneal buttons obtained by keratoplasty were examined by light, and transmission electron microscopy. We found massive alterations in the tissues of all corneal layers.