Unilateral corneal lattice dystrophy.
OBJECTIVE
To report three cases of seemingly unilateral dystrophy indistinguishable from type I classic lattice corneal dystrophy.


METHODS
Case study of three patients. Three patients, a 31-year-old man, a 44-year-old woman, and a 41-year-old man had multiple lattice lesions in one eye and an apparently healthy fellow eye. Two of these patients underwent penetrating keratoplasty because of poor vision.


RESULTS
Histopathologic examination of the excised corneal button of patient 2 showed amyloid deposits consistent with lattice. In the third patient, lattice lesions were noted in the other eye nearly 13 years after he was first examined.


CONCLUSIONS
Lattice corneal dystrophy is rarely unilateral. Lattice, even in unilateral cases, may cause significant vision loss to warrant penetrating keratoplasty. Lattice lesions may develop in the fellow eye many years later. This possibility should be explained to all patients with apparently unilateral lattice corneal dystrophy.
Sridhar
M S
MS
Cornea Service, Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107, USA.
Laibson
P R
PR
Eagle
R C
RC
Rapuano
C J
CJ
Cohen
E J
EJ
D000328:Adult; D000682:Amyloid / Q000378:metabolism; D000686:Amyloidosis / Q000175:diagnosis; D003315:Cornea / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D003317:Corneal Dystrophies, Hereditary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015948:Keratoplasty, Penetrating; D008297:Male
D000682:Amyloid