Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography imaging in corneal epithelial basement membrane dystrophy: a structural analysis

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the features of corneal epithelial basement membrane dystrophy using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD OCT) and to examine the reliability of SD OCT in distinguishing epithelial basement membrane dystrophy from the normal cornea.

Design: Diagnostic test study.

Methods: Forty-five individuals with epithelial basement membrane dystrophy and 45 age- and sex-matched controls with normal corneas were examined, and SD OCT scans of their corneas were performed. In vivo confocal microscopy was performed to confirm or rule out the diagnosis of epithelial basement membrane dystrophy. The structural corneal changes occurring in eyes with epithelial basement membrane dystrophy based on SD OCT findings were described.

Results: Epithelial abnormalities were observed in 86 of 87 eyes with epithelial basement membrane dystrophy (45 patients) on SD OCT scans. The 2 main features were the presence of an irregular and thickened epithelial basement membrane duplicating or insinuating into the corneal epithelium layer, or both, and the presence of hyperreflective dots. In some cases, we detected hyporeflective spaces between the corneal epithelial layer and the Bowman layer similar to a corneal epithelial detachment. This corneal epithelial detachment sometimes was associated with a cleavage with a stair-step appearance within the corneal epithelial layer. We found a perfect correlation between in vivo confocal microscopy and SD OCT findings in the diagnosis of epithelial basement membrane dystrophy (κ = 0.98).

Conclusions: SD OCT provides an accurate assessment of the structural changes occurring in eyes with epithelial basement membrane dystrophy. These changes, visible on SD OCT scans, are easily detectable and permit an accurate diagnosis, especially in patients with no biomicroscopically visible corneal changes.