HEREDITARY CORNEAL DYSTROPHY

Abstract

HEREDITARY corneal dystrophy was first described by Groenouw in 1890.Since then .caseshave .beenfound in most European Countries, in America and in Japan, but no case has yet been pub- lished of the disease occurring in a negro patient.The condition, however, is relatively rare, and in this country at least, must be quite unfamiliar to many ophthalmologists.The essential features of the disease are-(1) Its hereditary and familial character, (2) itS bi-lateral distribution, (3) its situation in the cornea, occupying the axial zone only, in the case of the domi- nant varieties, and (4) the absence of vascularization.The terms used in describing the lesion have been many.and varied, and I suspect that the difference was mostly due to the authors' descriptive powers and literary ability, and not to, any fundamental difference in the clinical picture.*Historical.Groenouw first gave a description' of this disease in 1890.He described the eye condition of two patients, and called the corneal disease tiodular coraeae."It has since been proved by Bucklers *