Bilateral reticular haze and scar involving central cornea

A 17-year-old girl with a few years' history of declining vision, photophobia, and dry eye symptoms was referred to our clinic. She noted that the vision in the right eye declined significantly over the past several months. On her last year examination, her uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) was recorded as 20/25 in both eyes with a corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) of 20/20 in both eyes with minimal refractive error, with a diagnosis of bilateral Salzmann nodular degeneration. The patient was given artificial tears and was encouraged to wear sunglasses. On examination now, UDVA was 20/70 in the right eye and 20/40 in the left eye. The manifest refraction was -2.00 + 1.25 × 96 in the right eye and -1.00 + 2.00× 34 in the left eye, with a CDVA of 20/50 and 20/30, respectively. Slitlamp examination revealed superficial reticular stromal scar with clear intervening spaces involving the anterior 75 μm of the stromal cornea in the central 6.0 mm optical zone (Figure 1).JOURNAL/jcrs/04.03/02158034-202104000-00021/figure1/v/2021-04-19T183640Z/r/image-tiffJOURNAL/jcrs/04.03/02158034-202104000-00021/figure2/v/2021-04-19T183640Z/r/image-tiff The rest of the anterior and posterior segment examination was completely normal and noncontributory. Anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) revealed subepithelial lesion involving the central aspect of the cornea in the right eye more than that in the left eye (Figure 2). Family history was significant for an older sister with a similar problem who never required medical attention. She also has mild photophobia and dry eye symptoms. What is your differential diagnosis? What diagnostic test will help you in your diagnosis and clinical decision-making? What is the most likely diagnosis in this case? Do you recommend medical and/or surgical intervention in the right eye, realizing that there has been exacerbation of her ocular condition in the most recent year? What is the long-term prognosis and future plan for a patient with this potential condition?