The effect of aldose reductase inhibitor on the corneal epithelium

Recent studies of diabetic corneal epitheliopathy have shown that diabetic aphakic patients suffer from an enlarged cell area. This study focuses on a 41-year-old diabetic woman whose mean cell area before treatment was 1,101 +/- 275 microns 2. Seven months after treatment it decreased to 723 +/- 253 microns 2. This case shows that through the application of topical aldose reductase inhibitor, the mean cell area in diabetic aphakic patients can decrease toward a normal number.