The dystrophy described by Reis and Bücklers. Separate entity or variant of the granular dystrophy?

The dystrophy originally described by Reis and Bücklers shows electron-microscopically 'rod-shaped bodies' in the region of Bowman's membrane that cannot be distinguished from the 'rod-shaped bodies' in the granular dystrophy. Some authors conclude from this finding that the dystrophy is a superficial variant of the granular dystrophy. Our findings indeed point to the fact that the keratocytes are the primary source of the opacities as is the case in the granular dystrophy. From the clinical, biomicroscopic and light-microscopic differences, however, it seems likely that both dystrophies will in future be shown to be due to different biochemical defects or that they are at least allelic forms of the same biochemical defect.