ABSTRACT
The authors analyze the results of a morphologic examination of 5 trephination scleral disks in various types of corneal curvature changes: with ectasia of the lower half of the cornea (1), with uneven corneal ectasia (1), with true keratoconus (2), and with keratoglobus (1), and come to a conclusion that involvement of the scleral connective tissue presenting as extracellular dysproteinosis is the morphologic substrate of deterioration of the elastic properties of the sclera, clinically observed in patients with various genetic corneal ectasias. Involvement of the sclera in the dystrophic process indicates a general involvement of the total external capsule of the eye in genetically determined corneal ectasias. The least marked changes presenting as fragmentation and fiber degeneration of collagen bundles are seen in uneven corneal ectasia. More profound changes in the sclera and its homogenization were detected in the patients with true keratoconus, ectasia of the lower half of the cornea, and keratoglobus.
