Morphological changes of corneal endothelial cells in paracentral epithelial herpes simplex keratitis

To analyze the morphology of corneal endothelial cells in epithelial herpes simplex keratitis (HSK) with paracentrally located lesions. The specular microscopic (Cell-Chek SL; Konan, Japan) measurements of the patients with epithelial HSK were evaluated. Thirty-two eyes of 32 patients with epithelial HSK and their 32 fellow eyes were studied and compared with healthy control group ( n = 35) in with respect to endothelial cell density (ECD), hexagonal cell percentage (HEX), coefficient of variation (CV), and central corneal thickness (CCT). The mean ages were 39.3 ± 10.1 years in both Groups 1 and 2, and 37.9 ± 15.3 years in Group 3 ( p = 0.507). Follow-up univariate ANOVAs revealed a significant difference in mean ECD values among the groups ( p < 0.001) but not in HEX, CV or CCT ( p > 0.05). Post hoc analysis demonstrated that Group 3 (M = 2923.57) and Group 2 (M = 2729.06) had significantly higher ECD values than Group 1 (M = 2424.87) ( p < 0.05). In addition, Group 3 (M = 2923.57) had significantly higher ECD values than Group 2 (M = 2729.06) ( p < 0.05). Epithelial HSK may potentially cause corneal endothelial alterations similar to those observed in other types of HSK.