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Cloudy cornea

• Overview
• Treatment

Definition:

A cloudy cornea is a loss of transparency of the cornea.

Alternative Names:

Corneal opacification; Corneal edema

Considerations:

The cornea is normally a nearly invisible, transparent structure covering the iris of the eye. Its two purposes are to transmit and focus the light entering the eye. Certain metabolic diseases, trauma, infectious diseases, nutritional deficiencies, and environmental situations may cause clouding of the cornea. Clouding results in varying degrees of visual loss .

Common Causes:

• Vitamin A deficiency (a leading cause of blindness in underdeveloped countries)
• Sjogren's syndrome
• Herpetic keratoconjunctivitis (a form of conjunctivitis caused by herpes simplex )
• Alkali and other chemical  burns to the cornea
• Trachoma (an infection common in parts of Asia and North Africa)
• River blindness (onchocerciasis - an infection common in parts of Africa)
• A number of rare inherited diseases involving abnormal metabolism

• Review Date: 11/14/2005
• Reviewed By: Edward B. Feinberg, MD, MPH, Professor and Chair, Department of Ophthalmology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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