Confocal microscopy in Meretoja syndrome.

PURPOSE: To study the correlation between severity of clinical systemic symptoms and the degree of stromal haze and visibility of epithelial and stromal nerves on scanning slit confocal microscopy examination in Meretoja syndrome.
METHODS: Three patients with Meretoja syndrome were examined by slit-lamp microscopy and scanning slit confocal microscopy.
RESULTS: Increased symptoms and abnormal slit-lamp findings correlated positively with confocal microscopic stromal haze intensity and inversely with visibility of epithelial and stromal nerves on confocal examination. A prominent deposit, presumably amyloid, was observed contiguous to a stromal nerve of an affected cornea. In a severely affected cornea, no stromal or epithelial nerves were seen.
CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that Meretoja syndrome causes corneal nerve damage and eventual degeneration that correlates with the degree of clinical involvement.