title: [Pellucid marginal degeneration: diagnosis and treatment].
abstract: Pellucid marginal degeneration is characterized by a progressive stromal thinning of the inferior corneal segment, between 4 and 8 o'clock, with a crescentic shape. The area of corneal thinning has a width of about 1 to 2 mm, and it is separated from the corneoscleral limbus by an area of normal corneal tissue. The initial treatment consists of optical correction. However, when the disease progresses to advanced stages, surgical procedures are necessary such as wedge resection, lamellar crescentic resection, penetrating keratoplasty, lamellar keratoplasty, epikeratoplasty and, recently, intracorneal segments.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Oftalmologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. rafaelmerula@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Rafael Vidal
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Mérula
authors.forename: Fernando Cançado
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Trindade
mesh_terms: D001251:Astigmatism / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D003316:Corneal Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D019781:Corneal Topography; D004108:Dilatation, Pathologic; D006801:Humans; D014792:Visual Acuity