Corneal neovascularization in pellucid marginal degeneration

ABSTRACT

In the classic descriptions of pellucid marginal degeneration, as the name implies, the cornea is free of both scarring and vascularization. We report findings of bilateral, fine, superficial vessels adjacent to the area of corneal thinning in five patients with pellucid marginal corneal degeneration [PMCD]. In two patients, both the extension into the cornea and the width of the vessels progressed during an episode of corneal hydrops, with subsequent regression of the vessel width. After resolution of hydrops due to the development of hard contact lens intolerance, one of these patients underwent a crescentic wedge resection. Histopathology of the excised cornea revealed fine, superficial vessels in Bowman's layer immediately posterior to the epithelial basement membrane