[Corneal dystrophies in optical coherence tomography]

Corneal optical coherence tomography (anterior segment OCT, AS-OCT) is described in the current IC3D classification of corneal dystrophies to be a method for improvement of clinical diagnostics and treatment.

In this case series AS-OCT images of corneal dystrophies were analyzed with respect to morphological changes.

This was a retrospective imaging and morphological case series with 38 eyes. For image acquisition the corneal module of the high-resolution spectral-domain OCT Zeiss Cirrus HD-5000 platform (Oberkochen, Germany) was employed. The following corneal dystrophies were analyzed: epithelial basement membrane dystrophy, Meesmann corneal dystrophy, Reis-Bücklers corneal dystrophy, granular corneal dystrophy type 1, granular corneal dystrophy type 2 and macular corneal dystrophy.

The AS-OCT images showed the typical changes of the dystrophies through hyperreflectivity and hyporeflectivity in the individual corneal layers. The findings in the AS-OCT images correlated well with the histological descriptions in the literature and provided additional information to the slit lamp examination, especially with respect to the exact location of the alterations.

Corneal AS-OCT imaging seems to be a helpful tool for determination of morphological changes in patients with corneal dystrophies and can facilitate both the diagnostics and surgical treatment decisions.