J Korean Ophthalmol Soc.  2019 Dec;60(12):1155-1161. 10.3341/jkos.2019.60.12.1155.

Clinical Analysis of Findings for Anterior Segment Optical Coherent Tomography in Recurrent Corneal Erosion Syndrome

• Kim YM
• Eom HD
• Yoon DH
• Kim HK

• KMID: 2466165
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3341/jkos.2019.60.12.1155

Abstract

PURPOSE
To evaluate the correlation between abnormal findings seen in anterior segment optical coherent tomography and the recurrence rate in patients with recurrent corneal erosion syndrome.
METHODS
Between January 2015 and August 2018, 53 eyes of 52 patients who had been diagnosed with recurrent corneal erosion syndrome were included in the study. Follow-up was performed for 12 months. To confirm the recurrence, we questioned the subjects on their symptoms and performed slit lamp examinations. At the first visit, the second week, and the first month, we performed anterior segment optical coherent tomography to identify pathologic findings for recurrent corneal erosion syndrome.
RESULTS
In 12 months, 29 eyes (54.7%) had a recurrence of corneal erosion and 24 eyes (45.3%) had no recurrence. There was no significant difference in age, sex, trauma, diabetes mellitus, or meibomian gland dysfunction between the recurrent and non-recurrent groups. Among the anterior segment optical coherent tomography findings, anterior stromal hyper-reflectivity, undetected epithelial basement membrane, intraepithelial basement membrane, intraepithelial inclusions were not significantly different between the two groups. In the first month, corneal epithelial edema was 82.8% in the recurrent group, but 33.3% in the non-recurrent group. It was significantly different (p = 0.000). Corneal epithelial thickness lowered significantly in the non-recurrent group, but not in the recurrent group in the first month. In other words, epithelial edema improved in the non-recurrent group, whereas epithelial edema did not improve in the recurrent group.
CONCLUSIONS
If corneal epithelial edema is not treated in patients with recurrent corneal erosion syndrome, high possibility of a recurrence should be considered.

Keyword

Corneal edema; Corneal epithelial edema; Corneal epithelial thickness; Corneal epithelium; Recurrent corneal erosion

MeSH Terms

Basement Membrane
Corneal Edema
Diabetes Mellitus
Edema
Epithelium, Corneal
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Meibomian Glands
Recurrence
Slit Lamp

Figure

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  Figure 1 Anterior segment optical coherent tomography of theright cornea. Anterior stromal hyper-reflectivity bellow affectedepithelium (arrow), intraepithelial inclusion (arrowhead),and undetected epithelial basement membrane (asterisk).

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  Figure 2 Change in the corneal epithelial thickness. A comparisonof the corneal epithelial thickness between the recurrentgroup and the non-recurrent group. *Wilcoxon signed rank test.

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