In vivo confocal microscopy of pre-endothelial deposits.
BACKGROUND
Deposits in various layers of the cornea might result from long-term medical therapy, photorefractive surgery, and longterm use of contact lenses or corneal dystrophies.


METHODS
A 46-year-old woman was referred to our department with the suspected diagnosis of posterior polymorphous dystrophy. Slit-lamp biomicroscopy revealed bilateral small-sized deposits in the posterior part of the cornea. In vivo confocal microscopy was performed to evaluate these deposits in detail.


RESULTS
In vivo confocal microscopy of the cornea identified hyperreflec-tive "dot-like" structures in the deep stromal layer and anterior to the endothelial cell layer. The morphology and number of keratocytes of the posterior stroma and of endothelial cells appeared normal.


CONCLUSIONS
In vivo confocal microscopy is a very useful tool to analyze and visualize pre-endothelial deposits. Because there is no family history of corneal disease, the exact origin of the pre-endothelial deposits in our case remains unclear.
Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany. slinke@uke.uni-hamburg.de
Stephan
S
Linke
Udo
U
Bartsch
Gisbert
G
Richard
Maren
M
Klemm
D003316:Corneal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003319:Corneal Stroma / Q000473:pathology*; D004728:Endothelium, Corneal / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008875:Middle Aged