Ultrastructural study of non-traumatic recurrent corneal erosion.

The recurrent epithelial erosion syndrome of the cornea is a common disorder; it usually follows specific trauma to the cornea, though it may present without such a history. It may sometimes be inherited or may occur in association with inherited corneal dystrophies (Duke-Elder and Leigh, I965; Griffith and Fine, I967). Clinically, the patient presents with symptoms of a sharp pain on opening the eyes in the morning followed by watering, photophobia, and a variable degree of blurring of vision. Cystic changes within the epithelium are recognized biomicroscopical features. This may be associated with a slight lifting, linear cracks, or frank loss of epithelium which gives the condition its name. Our knowledge of the aetiopathogenesis of this disorder is, however, limited. In cases pre- cipitated by trauma, it has been suggested that the basement membrane over the trau- matized area of the cornea is defective (Goldman, Dohlman, and Kravitt, I969; Khodadoust, Silverstein, Kenyon, and Dowling, I968). The purpose of this paper is to report for the first time the ultrastructural features of epithelial biopsies taken from a case of bilateral recurrent erosion syndrome of non-traumatic origin.