Oxytalan Fibers in Fuchs' Endothelial Dystrophy

Abstract

• In a histochemical and electron microscopic study of nine cases of Fuchs' endothelial dystrophy, oxytalan, a component of the elastic fiber family, was found in the extracellular tissues of the cornea. Oxytalan was most abundant around but not within the guttate excrescences; it was also found beneath the epithelium, occasionally beneath Bowman's layer, and rarely deep within the stroma.