Increased central cornea thickness in localized scleroderma (morphoea)

The central cornea thickness (CCT) was measured in 17 patients with localized scleroderma (morphoea) by the Haag-Streit pachymeter. Results were compared with measurements in healthy persons matched with respect to sex and age. CCT was increased (p 0.01) in patients with morphoea (mean 0.535 mm, range 0.510-0.580, SD 0.0217) as compared to the controls (mean 0.511 mm, range 0.490-0.525, SD 0.0094). In 9 (53%) of the patients CCT was more than mean + 2 SD in the controls. CCT was correlated to the duration of morphoea (correlation coefficient 0.660, p 0.01). It is discussed that the increase in cornea thickness may be a sign of minimum cornea "swelling" with alterations of the glycosaminoglycans of the corneal stroma as a possible background. The study demonstrates that morphoea is not simply a local disease confined to the plaques of the skin.