Clinical presentation and causes of recurrent corneal erosion syndrome: review of 100 patients.
OBJECTIVE
To study the clinical features and etiology of recurrent corneal erosion syndrome (RCES).


METHODS
We examined a total of 100 patients (117 eyes) with the diagnosis of RCES who presented at our institution (Instituto Clinico Quirúrgico de Oftalmología, Bilbao, Spain). Studied data included demography, etiology, corneal location, and association with meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD).


RESULTS
The mean age of patients was 44.5 (range, 14-80) years. Attributed causes of RCES were previous minor trauma (46 eyes, 39.3%), epithelial basement membrane corneal dystrophy (20 eyes, 17.1%), photorefractive keratectomy (20 eyes, 17.1%), laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (9 eyes, 7.7%), and of unknown origin (22 eyes, 18.8%). The most frequent site of RCES was the inferior paracentral cornea (68.4%), followed by the upper cornea (21.3%) and widespread location (21.3%). An association with MGD was found in 59% of patients.


CONCLUSIONS
RCES has various etiologies, which explains the variety in the clinical presentation of the disorder. Interestingly, a significant number of RCES patients begin to manifest the syndrome after keratorefractive surgery, and a high percentage of patients also present with MGD.
*Instituto Clinico Quirúrgico de Oftalmología, Bilbao, Spain; †Basque Country University, Bilbao, Spain; ‡Hospital Sótero del Río, Santiago, Chile; and §Departamento de Oftalmología de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Elío
E
Diez-Feijóo
Arturo E
AE
Grau
Eugenia I
EI
Abusleme
Juan A
JA
Durán
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003317:Corneal Dystrophies, Hereditary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D019573:Epithelium, Corneal / Q000473:pathology*; D005141:Eyelid Diseases / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020731:Keratomileusis, Laser In Situ / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D008537:Meibomian Glands / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D018903:Photorefractive Keratectomy / Q000009:adverse effects; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D055815:Young Adult